In 2017, the number of unfulfilled Canadian IT jobs will reach 71,000. This is a 24% increase from the estimated 54,000 jobs that are currently unfulfilled today (IDC report).
Since technology is such an imperative and ever-growing part of a Company’s Efficiency, Growth and Innovation, it is essential for education to really focus on encouraging the next generations to take up an interest in IT at a younger age.
Today, technology-savvy businesses play a large role in bridging this gap for companies all over the globe. Since they are the “experts” on technology and do not fear it, they are employed to ensure that their customers have access to the latest and greatest in technology advancements. The hope is that their services and products will help the company (their client) to gain a competitive edge. The down-fall comes with the learning of these technologies, and anticipating the future’s growth, requirements and demands for IT solutions and support. The current IT providers and employees wont be around forever.
To solve this gap, some companies have begun to work more closely with educational institutes to encourage younger generations to take an interest in technology. Since Information Technology is still relatively new, it is not actively taught to the younger age group. Girls and female adolescents are also targeted by these corporate initiatives as well as non-profit organizations such as “GIRLsmart4tech” who offers workshops for girls from Grade 6 and 7. This targeting towards girls is due to the low percentage (25%) of IT employees and workers being female.
Read more about how companies and organizations are sparking the interest of tomorrow’s generation https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bridging-skills-gap-canada-leagh-turner