If we are to achieve maximum productivity, then industry must lead our training programs. Only industry knows precisely what skills are necessary for them to compete in today's global economy. The bill we introduce today will offer incentives in the form of tax credits to businesses who take-on the burden of training their workforce. While increasing the productivity of American workers is an important goal for all U.S. industry, it is critical for the high-technology sector. Today, 2.5 million Americans work directly in the high-technology industry.
American firms dominate information technology markets worldwide.
Yet there is trouble ahead for our high-tech firms. Today, there are some 346,000 unfilled high-tech jobs in the United States. To keep pace with demand, each year for the next ten years, we must recruit and train an additional 130,000 computer scientists, engineers, and systems analysts. Finding and training these workers is not an insurmountable task. But government can not do it alone.