How To Solve The IT Labor Shortage Problem

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Feb 9, 1998

How To Solve The IT Labor Shortage Problem

By Charles Pelton
here was one fact plainly in evidence and another sorely missing when the National Information Technology Workforce Convocation met in Berkeley, Calif., last month. The IT workforce shortage is becoming more acute by the month. Government officials now peg the shortfall at 1.3 million workers over the nex t 10 years, and no solution to the shortfall is possible without the explicit, dedicated involvement of the business IT user community.
But there was barely a representative of the user community to be seen among the 300-odd attendees at last month's convocation. The only true CIO--Dr. Stuart Lynn, an associate VP at UC-Berkeley--was there less as a representative of the user community and more because the California university co-sponsored the two-day meeting. The U.S. Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Education were there in force. The federal government's commitment to the problem has become so great that Commerce and Education sent secretaries William Daley and Richard Riley, respectively. And of course the convocation was full of consultants, IT vendors, recruitment specialists, and representatives of public and private education.
But the rubber never hits the road inside the Beltway or within the hallowed, ivy-covered walls of academe. The real solution to the IT labor shortage problem must co me from the group that's most affected by the shortage--the countless small, medium, and large businesses who can't find the managerial, networking, systems administration, ERP, or electronic business talent to fill their voracious and growing appetite for technologists to drive and support their businesses. That a convocation on the IT labor shortage was formed without the explicit involvement of the IT user community was disappointing.
Still, the mission of the convocation is noble. It's just that government and academia must reach out to the user community so that effective programs are built to fill the skills gap. The message of the two-day convocation was clear: The labor is there. It just isn't trained yet in IT.
Just where is that labor pool? IT has rarely been a desired field for our nation's minorities. That should change. And what about the laid-off labor pool within all the industries that still suffer from downsizing? (Watch out, utilities: your turn is next) It's not a question of Cobol programmers becoming proficient in C++ (or the other way around, if you're trying to solve your year 2000 crisis). It's a matter of out-of-work gardeners, nurses, attorneys, or others being retrained in the business processes and technologies that shape IT and American business.
Many companies are moving aggressively in these areas--with or without government or academic partners. That's good. There are more corporate and business representatives on academic advisory boards. Federal Express, for one, supports a summer IT intern program. Other companies are recruiting workers without formal IT training, then providing needed skills in crash programs.
One problem IT faces--as several speakers at the convocation pointed out--is a lack of true IT role models. Is Bill Gates a modern Rockefeller or a powerful role model like contemporary sports and entertainment figures? Shouldn't Andy Grove have the same cache as Michael Jordan or David Packard the panache of Harrison Ford?
Commerce Secretary Daley put it succinctly at the convocation. "If you want to recruit," he said, "you must start by inspiring young people to dream about being a computer programmer as much as a pilot or a sports star."
Here's where industry--users and vendors alike--can team with government and academia. Use tax incentives to set up programs to send IT people into the elementary and secondary schools and demonstrate what it's like to create value and jobs with new products and services. If the IT professional is showcased just like the neighborhood firefighter, police officer, or sports star, then more kids will choose IT as a vocation.
Then watch that IT labor shortage disappear.
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