Employers in the greater Phoenix area are invited to learn about new strategies and tactics for recruiting and retaining information technology (IT) workers, including cybersecurity pros, at a virtual program presented on April 12 by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce.
The CompTIA Tech Talent Roadshow will examine the current state of tech employment in the Phoenix market and explore new strategies for finding and keeping the IT professionals with the right skills to help any business thrive.
Registration for the free program, which begins at 11:00 a.m. MST on April 12, and other information is available at here.
CompTIA executives Gordon Pelosse, senior vice president for employee engagement, and James Stanger, chief technology evangelist, will lead the program.
The gap between the number of open positions for tech workers and the people to fill those jobs is growing, both nationally and in the Phoenix metro area. In 2021 Phoenix employers listed job postings for nearly 80,000 tech positions, according to CompTIA’s “State of the Tech Workforce” report. Nationally there were more than 3.5 million employer job postings for tech positions.
“More than 75% of these job postings offered candidates hybrid work options, such as work from home or remote work,” Pelosse noted. “You’re no longer competing for talent with the business around the corner, but with companies across the country. Employers must be willing to embrace a different recruiting and hiring mindset when it comes to tech talent.”
The CompTIA executives will explain why the most important step an employer can take is widening the aperture in their search, according to Pelosse.
“Rather than chasing the same prospects as everyone else, you can find quality candidates in non-traditional places,” he said. “With encouragement, opportunity and training there are many people who have the potential to become great employees.”
“Look below the surface and you will find a talent pool that’s much deeper,” Stanger added. He cited several groups of potential IT employment candidates, including:
- “Opportunity youth,” young people between the ages of 16-24 who are neither in school nor the workforce, but with training and mentoring may have the aptitude and talent to work in IT.
- People with “potential but no credential” or who have attended college but have earned a degree.
- Groups who have been historically underrepresented in the tech workforce. In Arizona Hispanic or Latino workers make up 30% of the state’s total workforce, but account for just 15% of IT occupations. Women hold 48% of all jobs in the state, but just 25% of jobs in IT.
“It requires reframing not just who we employ, but the ways in which we think about talent development and acquisition,” Stanger explained. “Employers must shift their mindset from being purchasers of talent to investors in talent, viewing its acquisition and development as a long-term strategy and not a short-term fix.”
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the estimated 75 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce.
