CompTIA’s CEO Todd Thibodeaux has warned that the IT industry is no longer attractive to the kids of today.
He noted that the industry is only the fifth most desirable career globally, coming in behind sales, hospitality, healthcare and general business roles.
Speaking to the gathered throngs at the organisation’s 2022 EMEA Member and Partner Conference in London Thibodeaux said that there were about 10 million working age people out there looking for new job opportunities.
However, they were spurning the IT industry as if it were a rabid dog. They believe a tech career takes longer to train for, is harder to understand and is more expensive to learn than other more desirable careers.
Parents think that if their kids are not skilled in maths and science, then they will be unable to pursue a career in tech.
To make matters worse the industry has taken a lot of heat recently over the ‘bro’ culture in Silicon Valley, the perceived cost of training, and a perceived lack of progression in roles.
“We have a lot of perceptions to overcome and our industry needs to fight more for talent. We need to tell better stories about how great it is to work in our industry.”
Companies need to cast their nets wider for people that perhaps don’t have the exact set of skills or background they need, but who are willing to learn, he said, which also helps attract a wider and more diverse set of candidates.
