Pioneer Valley Regional IT Workforce Roundtable Presented by the Western Mass Information Technology Partnership Your Connection to Workforce Development1

Our Mission The Western Mass Information Technology Partnership is dedicated to providing a forum to develop and implement a strategy to align business IT skills requirements with regional training resources to fill current and future workforce needs that will support business growth. Your Connection to Workforce Development 2

The Challenge Identify specific IT Occupational skill gaps that employers have identified as problematic Identify the misalignment in the workforce training system, or Define the new skills competency requirements Revise curriculum and build new capacity into the workforce training system Your Connection to Workforce Development 3

IT Sector Initiative Goals Creation of a definitive IT workforce collaborative for the Pioneer Valley To develop and identify key areas of IT focus To identify and agree on key occupations and the skills during the beginning phase of this initiative To recognize that detailed employer job profiling will be required to recommend workforce training curriculum and capacity expansion, revisions or additions Your Connection to Workforce Development 4

The REB’s have been here before! Information and Telecommunication Technology Training Alliance (IT²) Two Rounds of USDOL ETE H-1B grant Funds: $4.5M National recognition by the National Alliance of Workforce Boards for the impact we've had in our collective regions Upgraded the skills of 1,604 employed, unemployed and under-employed workers, in high-end, specialized training to meet the skills shortage of workers in our regions’ information and telecommunications industries. Training was accomplished through a demand and customer-choice driven program design that included Employer-Based training grants to 39 corporate partners for 1448 workers, and Individual-based training via ITA/Vouchers to 156 unemployed and under-employed individuals Your Connection to Workforce Development 5

IT² Results Skills Attainments (Individuals can attain multiple skills ) Total Enrolled: 1,604 Degrees and Technical Certifications880 Other Employer-Recognized Skills (i.e., Non-Credit Computer Programming and Other Technical Courses)937 Total Number of Skill Attained:1817 Both Grants:CorporateIndividualsTotal New or Upgraded Job Wage Increased % of Wage Increase9%11%10% Your Connection to Workforce Development 6

IT Initiative Background/Timeline 2013-present Three IT symposiums were convened in 2014 with subject matter experts from business and academia to provide information on research and business occupational skills requirements. Your Connection to Workforce Development 7

IT Partnership Development Steps 1.Define regional workforce challenges (completed) 2.Confirm workforce solution framework (completed) 3.Assess Regional IT Workforce Needs (completed) 4.Inventory IT programs in the region (Completed) 5.Define Regional IT Workforce Focus Areas (Completed) 6.Launch pilot programs (Fall 2014, tentative) 7.Secure resources to scale programs (Fall 2014, Spring 2015) Your Connection to Workforce Development 8

Western Mass Regional IT Workforce Competitiveness Challenges 9  Aging Workforce  Limited Population Growth  Young Worker Flight  Further Cultural Diversity  Growing Sophistication of Job Tasks and Roles  Increased Pace of Innovation in Technology and Equipment  Lack of Career Opportunity Awareness  Evolving Industry Base with new IT needs Your Connection to Workforce Development

How would you describe the impact of the shortage of qualified IT candidates has on business growth and success? – Can’t grow if you cant hire new people – Growth is stunted due to lack of qualified employees – Lack of candidates impacts growth & speed to grow – Elongates projects – Takes longer to fill jobs – Automation abilities fuel increased productivity – Companies delay bringing equipment because they have to spend money on IT salaries – Impairs Innovation – Keeps Pioneer Valley area "behind the rest of the world" technologically, affects the general knowledge of the area on IT – New business, especially high tech, will not relocated to the area because of the lack of technically trained workforce. Your Connection to Workforce Development 10

How do you see the region’s demand for IT services expanding or contracting over the next three to five years? All aspects of businesses require it, younger generation born with computer Cloud based services across multiple scenes (Smartphone, tablet, PC, TV, etc); IT is in all industries (Manufacturing, Insurance, Banking, Medical) Combination of community development & continuing growth of dependence in technology Data Analytics, Hosting Services Information Security, Networking (Wireless Fiber) Regulatory Compliance Mobility Digital and mobile media and services will be in greater demand Your Connection to Workforce Development 11

Communication Problem Solving Customer Service What are the top three soft skills that are lacking in existing IT employees? What are the greatest weaknesses you see in supervisory-level IT employees? Performance Management Building Effective Teams Project Management Conflict Management Staff Development Skills Your Connection to Workforce Development 12

Which specific IT specialties do you feel there is currently a shortage of qualified candidates in: Number of Organizations Responding Your Connection to Workforce Development 13

Draft of IT Workforce Focus Areas Identified Expand K-12 IT curriculum program adoption efforts Grow K-12 after school programs Launch regional IT incumbent training collaborative Build a partnership of 20+ organizations for IT internship experience and/or placement Develop Career Ladders for Hardware, Software, and Networking Increase career awareness outreach and leveraging regional colleges more effectively Conduct skill gap assessment for IT occupations and launch 2 new credentials to support Manufacturing and/or Healthcare IT Needs – Data Analyst? – Big Data Management? – Advanced Hospital Coding? – Medical Analytics? Increase and accelerate community college IT program enrollment and credentials awarded and Your Connection to Workforce Development 14

IT Workforce Training Inventory Inventory of all Schools and colleges providing IT training programs in the Pioneer Valley  Analysis of the specific IT programs and curriculum  Analysis of regional graduation totals  Analysis on where “in-demand” skills are presently being taught or are available  For 2014, it is not a labor force quantity issue, it is a quality issue Your Connection to Workforce Development 15

IT Roundtable Open Discussion Supply and Demand (Quantity and Quality) Key occupations and competencies Emphasis tends to be more software driven for skills gap challenges Specific employer challenges - Incumbent workforce - New pipeline workers Your Connection to Workforce Development 16

Needs, Skills & Occupations Security (Cyber Security)- a leading topic for all employers Open Source- lively discussion on the benefits and challenges on focusing on providing primary product training (Microsoft, Oracle, etc.) to the exclusion of open source. The dominant use of Drupal (open source) for web design was the example used in support of some open source training Web programming  Responsive Design  Scaling Computer Apple products Windows-based Database Administration  SQL Your Connection to Workforce Development 17

Needs, Skills & Occupations Business Analysts Network Support Analyst Project Management  Foundational and Agile Skills Developer Skills  Java  Software Development Life Cycle  Application Programming Interfacing (API) Your Connection to Workforce Development 18

Outreach and Recruiting Self-Employed/Hidden Tech Freelancers Consultants A component of the workforce that needs to be targeted Social media will play an important role in marketing campaign to possible trainees Trainee Pool Sources Career Centers Unemployed college graduates College career centers Employer Partner Recommendations Your Connection to Workforce Development 19

Examples of Specific Company IT Needs Yankee Candle Business/ Program Analysts  Development in Vendor Management competencies Baystate Health Systems Integration challenge Linkages between medical devices Peoples Bank Leadership Strategic Planning Your Connection to Workforce Development 20

Employer Recommended Areas of Schools/ College Focus Utilization of Software and Applications used in real-time business processes Development of relevant problem solving/ critical thinking More comprehensive development of Project Managers Your Connection to Workforce Development 21

Next Steps Compile the information from this roundtable and follow-up with individual employers for more detailed job profiling to drive program development Reviewing funding opportunities Set selection parameters for trainees The development of a strategic outreach and marketing process for appropriate applicants Occupational concentrations will initially be in five (5) focus areas 1.Web Development 2.Business Analysis 3.Strategic Project Management 4.Database Administration 5.Cyber Security Specific skills and competencies will fall under these five core areas Smaller workgroups will be created to guide development of workforce strategies in each of these five key areas. Your Connection to Workforce Development 22