Skills Gap Tip #9 - Don't let the skills gap hold you hostage!
Can't find the people you need for all those tech projects? Get used to it! Baby Boomers are retiring and there simply are not enough people to replace them in this tech centric world. Winning the Talent Wars will require ingenuity! Instead of focusing on what you have 'always done' think about how you could do things radically differently! Low-Code solutions, like SageTea Software (www.sageteasoftware.com) out of Ottawa, Canada, are now available. They create an environme
Asean Economic Community fails to bridge skills gap
Editor's Comments: According to the article, demand for highly-skilled workers within Southeast Asia is projected to grow by 41%, or 14 million workers, between 2010 and 2025. The goal of facilitating the movement of skilled workers within countries has merit but there are much broader issues at play here. Clearly a skills gap strategy needs to be put in place to grow the number of workers that are available overall and encourage professionals to stay within the region. **
Skill Gap Affects Cybersecurity
Editor's Comments: This article provides some practical advice for companies trying to fill Cyber Security openings. ********** The skill gap is affecting almost each and every aspect of an organization, including cybersecurity. According to Cyber Seek, while there are 128,000 job openings for Information Security Analysts in the US, only 88,000 have been filled, indicating a talent shortfall of 40,000 cybersecurity analysts. The unavailability of adequately qualified talent
Collaboration is key to closing the skills gap
Most of us in the UK IT industry are aware that we are facing a skills gap. The demand for expertise in analyzing big data continues to grow, while Brexit threatens to make it harder to bring in skilled people from elsewhere in Europe. The question we need to address is what we are going to do about it. How can we make sure that the UK economy is not held back by a failure to secure the right level of skills in our workforce? This gap manifests itself in two different ways: n
The bigger picture: the right mainframe talent for the workplace
The digital revolution is changing the face of IT and the skill requirements of those doing the work. Do businesses have the right talent for the future, and what about the mainframe world? Editor's Comments: This article hits on many of the things that I emphasize with clients. The key to closing the skills gap is being able to recognize you have a problem, build a plan and then execute the components of the plan - whether it be employee branding, new tools, apprenticeship
Xerox and EFI Sponsorship of SkillsUSA Helps Train the Future Workforce
Editor's Comments: Skilled press operators are yet another industry segment affected by the skills gap. SkillsUSA has been going since 1967 and it is great to see Xerox step-up and sponsor the competition. LOUISVILLE, Ky. — July 10, 2017 — As a generation of skilled press operators retires, many managers at leading graphic communications firms and in-plant departments struggle to find qualified replacements. To help fill that void, Xerox and Electronics for Imaging (EFI) on
Keeping the Mainframe Alive and Well
Editor's Comments: With the advent of big data large and medium size businesses should be looking at the mainframe as a serious player. In my opinion, while the mainframe is far from dead IBM needs to invest in some really creative marketing to the C-suite. As long as businesses keep going after the next shiny object and do not take the time to understand Total Cost of Ownership and apply it to their decision making - the mainframe is in much more peril than it needs t
New Course Brings Older Tech Workers Back to the Office
Editor's Comments: Countries around the world are facing skills gaps and people shortages. Israel is implementing an innovative program that recognizes the value of older skilled engineering workers. Ironically it is the retirements from the workforce of baby boomers that is partially to blame for the gap. ********** YERUSHALAYIM - The shortage of high-tech workers has prompted the Labor and Welfare Ministry to bring back retired engineers, with a new training course that w
Improve education to address ICT skills gap in South Africa
Revising the whole education system, driving broader access to the Internet as a learning and information delivery mechanism, getting the youth online and trying to adapt learning programmes to market realities are some of the ways to address unemployment among young people. This is the word from Brahim Ghribi, head of government relations of Middle East and Africa at Nokia. He believes SA and other African nations need to work on reviewing their education systems and help yo
In Kenya Real estate players decry shortage of skilled plumbers, masons
Editor's Comments: The construction industry in Canada and the U.S. is facing a similar shortage of skilled artisans such as plumbers, masons and painters. One of the critical first steps to closing this gap is for parents and guidance teachers to encourage their children to go into the skilled trades. ********** Investors in the real estate sector have decried the shortage of skilled artisans in the industry. Their concern is that there are more engineers and architects tha
