Policy leaders should be particularly sensitive to efforts designed to ensure greater equity in assuring digital literacy for all students, and especially for efforts designed to attract women and girls to the IT field. Policy initiatives should be especially supportive of model efforts and other incentives that address such inequities. Certification of skills at all levels of the industry appears to be an embedded feature of employment within the IT sector. We urge support for all efforts to expand company-specific certifications as well as identify clusters of skills certifications that enhance mobility. We make special note that the practice of developing specific certifications helps a wide variety training programs to connect with the certifications as a way of providing entry into the sector we would expect to see, for example, connections between adult basic literacy programs and IT skills training.
Employers have an obligation to help invest in the local workforce.
Recent requests for changes in federal immigration policy would make it easier for firms to import guest workers from other countries to address short-term labor shortages. We note that there are other ways that employers could operate to develop IT employees by connecting with local training organizations on entry ramp efforts, by providing adjunct faculty to act as teachers at local training organizations and colleges, and by working with schools and colleges on curriculum and training. Back to Archives .