Obama launches tech training, hiring program

In an effort to fill more higher-paying technology jobs and meet employer need, President Obama has announced TechHire.

The program aims to use a variety of approaches to train people for technology jobs that don’t require a four-year computer science degree including many in healthcare, such as coding, web development and cybersecurity.

To kick off TechHire, 21 regions, with over 120,000 open technology jobs and more than 300 employer partners in need of this workforce, are announcing plans to work together to new ways to recruit and place applicants based on their actual skills and to create more fast track tech training opportunities, according to a fact sheet posted on the White House website. The President is challenging other communities across the country to follow their lead.

“America has about 5 million open jobs today, more than at any point since 2001. Over half a million of those job openings are in IT fields like software development, network administration, and cybersecurity--many of which did not even exist just a decade ago. The average salary in a job that requires IT skills is 50 percent higher than the average private-sector American job,” according to the fact sheet.

The initiative includes $100 million in new federal investments to train and connect more workers to a good job in technology and other in-demand fields. The grant competition will support innovative approaches to training and successfully employing low-skill individuals and will support the scaling up of evidence-based strategies such as accelerated learning, work-based learning, and registered apprenticeships.

Read the complete fact sheet.