Black-tie balls to marketing campaigns — What’s being done to fill the much-needed tech talent pipeline

DUMFRIES — For the very first time, the Mayor of Dumfries will host a ball.

Mayor Derrick Wood will host the “Black and White Ball” April 13 at 7 p.m. Wood says he is organizing this event to raise scholarship funds for high school seniors who want to attend trade colleges.

Black tie dress is optional for this event, which will be held at The Fabriek in Dumfries. Music food and entertainment will be provided and radio and television personality, Guy Lambert, will be the special guest host for the event. It marks the first time a Dumfries mayor has held such an event. 

Plans for the ball come as political leaders in recent months have shifted the discussion away from attracting only white-collar jobs to the region, and have begun asking how to serve those who may favor a trade over a traditional four-year college degree.

Northern Virginia Community College serves as a pivotal resource for workforce development in the region. Vice President of Workforce Development at Northern Virginia Community College Steve Partridge says that while they must manage every industry need, the primary focus for workforce development is IT and healthcare.

If companies cannot find needed IT, leaders are willing to pick up and move to their business other regions of the U.S. Partridge says the college is launching a new initiative in the fall called, Tech Talent Pipeline to address this issue.

“Tech Talent Pipeline is a marketing campaign targeting parents and students in local high schools to consider IT jobs upon graduation,” said Partridge.

IT jobs are the most difficult to fill in the region, and Partridge said the talent pipeline campaign has a $1 million budget to fund phase one. He said this project is funded through GO Virginia and surrounding municipalities.

Partridge says currently there is only 11 percent of women in cybersecurity, as an example of their workforce shortage.

“We need that number to grow closer to 50 percent,” he said.

A 2016 Northern Virginia Technology Council survey of area employers states systems software developers jobs is the most difficult job in the region to fill, followed by application software developers and information security analysts. The survey used data gathered both electronically and in employer interviews.  

Despite the need to fill jobs, the IT job market in the region isn’t slowing down. In 2018, Amazon announced it would invest $2.5 billion and bring 25,000 new jobs to Arlington, while Micron struck the largest economic development deal in Virginia history, promising to spend $3 billion and to bring 1,100 new jobs to its Manassas headquarters.

“We don’t have enough people to fill the demand,” said Partridge, “There are 30,000 – 40,000 jobs each year with a workforce that we need more people in.”

Partridge said healthcare is their second highest demand in workforce development. However, since healthcare serves residents who live in the community, they are not worried about those jobs moving away.

There’s still a high priority to fill these jobs because lack of available workforce affects the quality of service offered and produces like longer patient wait times.

Partridge said another strategy they are working on to fill the workforce is an apprenticeship.

“Employers need people now, so we are working with companies to look at alternative strategies to fill entry-level positions,” said Partridge.

Partridge said their first IT apprenticeship was organized with Amazon Web Services. The program offers credentials based on the job training for one year with the option to convert to a full-time employee after 1 year and completion of the program, says Partridge.

“We hope to have 200 to 400 people in the apprenticeship programs each year,” said Partridge, with five or more companies in participating in the apprenticeship program.