With the layoffs of thousands of workers due to the economic downturn, the return of thousands of veterans to civilian positions and under-represented population groups in need of training placement, there’s a growing demand for transitional training programs in our technical and community colleges across the country and here in Washington State.

The Federal Workforce Employment and Training Act of 1993 [1] created Worker Retraining programs that have served over 100,000 unemployed and dislocated workers in Washington. This law has resulted in the expansion of training programs available for jobless workers who need to upgrade their skills to re-enter the workforce. However, our research shows that IT training programs often are not meeting the expectations of IT hiring managers.

This paper examines how well the worker retraining programs in our community and technical colleges address the needs of IT hiring managers and employers. It maps skills training to vacancies in high-demand occupation areas, examines where gaps exist, and then recommends steps to ensure training aligns with industry needs.

At Bookey Consulting, our team has been working in the professional development and technology space for over 15 years. We have helped create some of the most highly recognized certification programs for Microsoft Learning, Cisco, Citrix, and CompTIA. We have created curriculum, trained the instructors who deliver content, and worked with the examination companies who provide testing services. This current research combines our field experiences with extensive research in our local area.

To read more download the complete paper.