TECNA speakers: 2 programs attempt to fill tech worker pipeline
KATE HAYDEN Jul 27, 2018 | 8:24 pm
2 min read time
485 wordsAll Latest News, Innovation and EntrepreneurshipThere are two levels to the labor pipeline stagnation that business leaders are attempting to address: the students and the midcareer pivoters, speakers said this week at the 2018 TECNA Summer Conference in Des Moines.
Both groups are seeking introductions into the STEM workforce; both groups have unique needs. Technology Councils of North America conference attendees got a peek behind the curtain at two initiatives — Apprenti, in Washington state, and the Minnesota High Tech Alliance’s SciTechsperience internship program. Both programs match vetted participants with qualified businesses within the specific state for paid positions, with the goal of keeping interns and apprentices in one of the state’s science fields near the end.
For the first two years since 2012, MHTA’s SciTechsperience only received enough funding from the state to operate for the first six months, program director Becky Siekmeier told attendees at Thursday morning’s event. By 2014-15, the state committed $2.7 million to funding SciTechsperience through the end of 2019.
“For employers, the 50 percent wage match is a nice financial benefit of some kind, to lower their risk of bringing somebody new into their organization,” Siekmeier said.
The state program seems to receive an ever-growing flood of Minnesota students seeking internship connections at small, private Minnesota companies; SciTechsperience agrees to match half the intern’s wage or up to $2,500 for the internship period. Minnesota is projected to have 446,251 STEM jobs by 2026, more than a 10 percent growth from the estimated 640,562 jobs Minnesota saw in 2016.
Over in Washington state, Apprenti sprouted in 2015 as the state studied how to close the gap between available tech jobs and the actual number of college graduates in the field, program coordinator Sasha Rayburn said. Apprenti focuseses on mid-career pivoters. It works with the tech industry in the state to design apprenticeship training curriculum based on the position, recruit qualified training providers, and vet and ultimately match candidates with a paid, one-year internship after the candidate undergoes two to five months of technical training.
“For every one senior level job, seven additional jobs are created within the sector,” Rayburn said. “When we spoke to companies about ‘do people actually need a college degree to get those kind of middle-skill jobs,’ about 40 percent of them actually need a college degree in order to successfully do that job.
“The goal is retaining the apprentice permanently at the company where they’re training,” Rayburn added. “So it is very different from most internships, where oftentimes it’s only available to students in a particular program or at a particular school. And oftentimes, the goal is around building skills for the intern, but not necessarily permanent retention at the company.”
Both programs have quite a ways to go if tech councils push to adopt those models: The U.S. has 2.5 million unfilled tech jobs, Rayburn said, and 15 percent of the remaining tech workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next five years.
Both groups are seeking introductions into the STEM workforce; both groups have unique needs. Technology Councils of North America conference attendees got a peek behind the curtain at two initiatives — Apprenti, in Washington state, and the Minnesota High Tech Alliance’s SciTechsperience internship program. Both programs match vetted participants with qualified businesses within the specific state for paid positions, with the goal of keeping interns and apprentices in one of the state’s science fields near the end.
For the first two years since 2012, MHTA’s SciTechsperience only received enough funding from the state to operate for the first six months, program director Becky Siekmeier told attendees at Thursday morning’s event. By 2014-15, the state committed $2.7 million to funding SciTechsperience through the end of 2019.
“For employers, the 50 percent wage match is a nice financial benefit of some kind, to lower their risk of bringing somebody new into their organization,” Siekmeier said.
The state program seems to receive an ever-growing flood of Minnesota students seeking internship connections at small, private Minnesota companies; SciTechsperience agrees to match half the intern’s wage or up to $2,500 for the internship period. Minnesota is projected to have 446,251 STEM jobs by 2026, more than a 10 percent growth from the estimated 640,562 jobs Minnesota saw in 2016.
Over in Washington state, Apprenti sprouted in 2015 as the state studied how to close the gap between available tech jobs and the actual number of college graduates in the field, program coordinator Sasha Rayburn said. Apprenti focuseses on mid-career pivoters. It works with the tech industry in the state to design apprenticeship training curriculum based on the position, recruit qualified training providers, and vet and ultimately match candidates with a paid, one-year internship after the candidate undergoes two to five months of technical training.
“For every one senior level job, seven additional jobs are created within the sector,” Rayburn said. “When we spoke to companies about ‘do people actually need a college degree to get those kind of middle-skill jobs,’ about 40 percent of them actually need a college degree in order to successfully do that job.
“The goal is retaining the apprentice permanently at the company where they’re training,” Rayburn added. “So it is very different from most internships, where oftentimes it’s only available to students in a particular program or at a particular school. And oftentimes, the goal is around building skills for the intern, but not necessarily permanent retention at the company.”
Both programs have quite a ways to go if tech councils push to adopt those models: The U.S. has 2.5 million unfilled tech jobs, Rayburn said, and 15 percent of the remaining tech workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next five years.
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