"I commend ACS for recognizing the urgent need to diversity the workforce as one of the many tactics employers should be using to solve the skills gap challenge. I agree that fundamental and urgent change to the cultural and mindset and attitudes towards mature age workers and women int he workforce are needed - but I believe they are needed around the world. At LegacyNEXT our approach is to take a holistic approach to the skills gap problem and provide employers with a road

"This article highlights the progress that has been made in Australia around closing the skills gap. The author cites three key reasons for the success: companies are doing more to train employees, universities are more efficient in supplying the skilled talent businesses need and Australia is attracting international talent. There is a lot to be learned from their approach and success." Susan Australia’s technology skills gap has closed by 29 per cent over the last two y

February 16, 2016 As we have mentioned here in the past, we have both a personal and professional interest in bringing new programmers to the IBM i. We have personally introduced many Java, C# and other programmers to the joys of IBM i and RPG IV. We blogged about one such experience in a post titled "Programming Highs and Tire Lows." The reason for returning to the subject now is that recently we've had a number of requests for advice on establishing in-house internships o

May 18, 2016 "This article highlights that the tech skills gap is much broader than mainframe and hard to find digital skills. It was great to read about some of the proactive work being done by Gateway Technical College and Muskegon Community College. I agree with the writers when they say it is hard to believe that more user groups have not joined forces with local community colleges to get ahead of the problem." Susan It's not a new topic for us, but it's still a top co

"According to the article more than half of employers offer some variety of flexible work arrangements and has joined a company's bag of incentives. They are seeing all kinds of innovations and infinite variations. Paid parental leave, unlimited vacation time, job sharing, compressed work weeks and full-time telecommuting are all commonplace. Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg when talking about flexibility and work. I enjoyed that the article looks at the many sides

"I really enjoyed this article by Patrick Thomson because it made me think about the skills that older workers bring to the workplace and the stereotypes that are often incorrectly applied to them. Views about older workers include problems with health-related absence, out-of-date skills or being 'stuck in their ways. It is important to create an age-friendly workplace and take advantage of all the skills seniors bring to the table." Susan Dineen To read the whole article

"Uk grocery retailer Sainsbury has introduced a new twist to Apprenticeship programs. They recently announced that they would be targeting individuals with and without previous technical skills to become software development apprentices. Clare McDonald, Business Editor at ComputerWeekly.com reports that the retailer said people who are thinking of applying do not need previous coding experience, but should have at least a Level Three qualification, a C grade pass in GCSE En

"Closing the skills gap means working at the problem from multiple directions. A study by Nominet and Parent Zone provides some excellent insights into how younger children feel about technology careers. The challenge around the world is to find ways to keep them engaged because the other side of the research indicates that interest goes down through the teen years. In September 2014, the UK government made it mandatory for children between 4 and 16 to learn computing in s

"The technology skills gap is a worldwide problem and in this excellent article authors Jailbou and Farah urge for a holistic approach to solving the problem. It was shocking to realize that 50% of children in MENA schools do not meet basic international literacy and numeracy proficiency standards! The authors identify five key strategies and it is not surprising that they are similar to what other regions around the world are finding - the importance of lifelong learning, e

A recent survey published by McKinsey & Company in May, 2016 titled "Partnering to Shape the Future - iT's new imperative" provided excellent insights into the state of IT effectiveness around the world and highlights the importance of partnering with the business. In addition to insights on partnering it found that talent continues to surface as a major obstacle to the IT function's effectiveness. This is not surprising given that if you don't have people to maintain and en