CompTIA To Double Down On IT Education, Mentoring To Narrow Skills Gap

(Note: This story was originally posted on CRN.com Aug. 2.)

Solution providers that are having a tough time filling key roles -- especially in service delivery -- may want to keep tabs on plans by CompTIA that could help them.

The non-profit trade association plans to address the growing IT skills deficit by teaming up with educators to develop more technology curriculum and enlisting mentoring organizations to inspire the next generation of workers. 

The IT services sector is already unable to fill 15 percent of vacant positions, and the problem is only expected to get worse with millions of IT worker retirements expected in the next eight years, said CompTIA president and CEO Todd Thibodeaux.

Today, the industry isn't even attracting enough workers to cover impending retirements, Thibodeaux said Tuesday during a State of the Industry address, much less the growth expected from emerging fields such as automation and robotics. 

[RELATED: GTDC Chief: Distribution Sales Stabilizing In 2016 As Security Strength Offsets Storage, PC Struggles]

"Working in our industry is still seen as too hard, anti-social, too white and introverted," Thibodeaux said during CompTIA ChannelCon 2016 in Hollywood, Fla. "Young people are just not that interested in a career in IT."

College graduates no longer have to enter the IT industry to interact with technology, Thibodeaux said, meaning that many entry-level workers opt for tech-focused positions in the medical, finance, hospitality or transportation sectors instead.

"Other industries are doing a much better job of emphasizing being welcoming to diversity," Thibodeaux said. "A tech-trained individual today is just as likely to work for your customer as they are for you."

Surprisingly, Thibodeaux said the IT industry has also been harmed by the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) movement, which he said has put software coding on a pedestal since it's seen as computational thinking. As a result, IT or hardware-focused programs such as CompTIA's A+ are being relegated to after-school status or are receiving less support from schools than they did in the past.

"Schools think the only way you can learn logic, problem solving and creativity in tech is through coding," Thibodeaux said. "Coding has hijacked the college prep mindset."

Another problem stems from divergent expectations between what IT service providers would like in prospective employees and what's readily available in the marketplace.

Many smaller solution providers maintain that they lack the time or money to invest in entry-level employees, and therefore insist that all prospective hires have at least three to five years of professional experience. As a result, there's a glut of entry-level employees who are unable to get industry experience, Thibodeaux said.