In a very tight IT labor market, with extremely low unemployment rates, employers fear they will not get a return on their investment. This is an important concern and it appears to be justified. But companies could do something about this problem if they would enhance their culture of competition by augmenting it with cooperation. Instead of luring each other's workers, or recruiting foreign workers, cooperating companies could work together to expand the pool of home-grown skills. We are seeing the start of industry-driven regional skills alliances . . .
Companies pool their money and develop a training program.
The semiconductor industry did this. It needed 40,000 technicians, and the companies banded together to train them. This is good movement in the right direction. But we need to do more to expand the pool of skilled workers. We simply don't have much choice.