State Chamber promotes TechHire initiative to address workforce issues

Officials with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce are promoting the federal TechHire initiative, a multi-sector approach to train workers with the information technology (IT) skills required for well-paying, middle- and high-skilled and high-growth jobs across a diversity of industries such as IT, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services and broadband.

The initiative is designed to address the disparity between the resurgence of the American economy and the IT training pipeline that is under-producing workers to fill good jobs, which is costing employers, workers and the U.S. economy. Technology-related skills are essential not only to gaining employment in IT industries, but also to accessing middle- to high-skilled jobs across all industries as over two-thirds of technology jobs are outside of the IT industry, according to the statement from federal and state officials.

Helping more Americans acquire these skills through cost-effective, timely, agile and market-responsive training pipelines that connect Americans with good jobs is an important opportunity to get more people into the middle class, but it is also an economic imperative for America’s continued leadership in global innovation.

To address these issues and support innovative approaches to training and employment opportunities, the President’s TechHire Initiative encompasses three key components:
• TechHire Communities
The TechHire initiative builds on the work of communities to expand access to tech jobs and encourages other communities to respond to the President’s call to action.

• Private Sector Commitments
Private sector leaders are announcing commitments to support and expand continued innovation in technology training, with a focus on reaching under-served populations. National organizations are committing to work with interested cities to share job and skills information, job-matching tools and other resources to help support the growth, adoption and creation of promising practices across the United States.

• $100 million TechHire Partnership Grant Program
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $100 million through an H-1B-funded grant competition to support innovative approaches to training and successfully employing low-skilled individuals with barriers to training and employment.

This grant program is designed to equip individuals with the skills they need through innovative approaches that can rapidly train workers for and connect them to well-paying, middle- and high-skilled, and high-growth jobs across a diversity of H-1B industries such as IT, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services and broadband.

The closing date for this opportunity is March 11, 2016. Link here for more information about the initiative.