MassTLC research on the truth behind the talent crisis in the Massachusetts tech ecosystem

1. The Truth Behind
the Talent Crisis
PRELIMINARY SURVEY FINDINGS
MASSTLC WORKFORCE SUMMIT
DECEMBER 11, 2013
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

2. Project Objectives
! Purpose
– ID short/long-term solutions to address tech sector talent needs
! Develop insights around:
– The extent of perceived talent crisis
– How tech leaders are addressing it
– Possible public-private interventions
! Participants
– CXOs; Talent Directors; Hiring Managers
– YOU! Please take 3-5 min to share your views!
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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3. CXO Respondent Company Demographics
Company Size
Enterprise
(>$100M)
44%
Startup
(<$1M)
3%
Large
(<$100M)
30%
Other
Executives
14%
HR/Talent
Acquisition
12%
Outside
Metro
Region
12%
Small
(<$5M)
17%
495
Corridor
20%
Medium (<
$10M)
9%
Anonymous
12%
Company Location
Boston
19%
Cambridge
12%
128
Corridor
37%
Respondent Titles
President/
CEO/GM
62%
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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4. CXO Respondent Demographics By Sector
Note: data in this presentation is from the CXO group/survey
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
*Other includes: Technology Recruiting, Research
University, Consumer Internet, Clean Tech,
Aerospace & Defense, Energy, IT Services,
Finance, Semiconductor, Hardware
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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5. CS jobs represent about half of the tech
workforce and half the open requisitions
Open Requisitions
Total Employment
CS Jobs vs Non-CS
8000
7000
6000
5000
CS Jobs!
49%!
Non CS
Jobs!
51%!
4000
All Open Jobs!
3000
CS Jobs!
2000
1000
0
Open Global Jobs!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
Open MA Jobs!
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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6. Strong competition for tech talent locally
Cannot hire sufficient
tech talent, period!
!
Cannot find sufficient tech
talent in local marketplace!
!
Local schools are not producing
sufficient tech talent!
!
Strongly Agree!
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
There is too much competition
locally for tech talent!
!
Talent exists locally but is too
expensive!
!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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7. Sourcing: Quality (77%); Outside (70%)
We hire recent grads primarily
from top tier schools (ie, MIT,
Harvard, Yale, etc.)!
!
We hire recent grads from
any quality programs (ie,
MIT, WPI, UMass, Wentworth)!
!
We hire recent grads from
community colleges!
!
Strongly Agree!
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
We partner with schools to develop
targeted training programs and look
to hire those graduates!
!
We look outside the region
and/or in other sectors to
find talent!
!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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8. Growth: 76% say talent is a top 3 barrier
Talent acquisition/retention is the
number one barrier to company
growth
Talent acquisition/retention is
one of our top three barriers to
company growth
Lack of financing/investment options is
a barrier to company growth
Strongly Agree!
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
Lack of reasonably priced housing for our
employees is a barrier to company growth!
Lack of access to public transit options for our
employees is a barrier to company growth
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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9. Skills: 78% Bachelors; 67% Biz knowledge
PhD/Masters level computing/
engineering/programming skills
are in greatest demand!
!
Bachelors level computing/
engineering/programming
skills are in greatest demand!
!
Associates or community college level
computing/engineering/programming
skills are in greatest demand!
!
Strongly Agree!
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
Hybrid of computing skills with vertical
business knowledge is in greatest demand!
!
Non technical skills are in the greatest demand!
!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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10. Experience: interns (85%); recent grads (63%)
We have no problem
hiring student interns!
!
We have no problem hiring
recent college graduates!
We have no problem hiring
talent with 3-5 years experience!
CXO Survey
Data
Strongly Agree!
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
We have no problem hiring talent
with 5-10 years experience!
We have no problem hiring talent
with 10+ years experience!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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11. Increasing talent pool
85%
76%
We need to increase the number of
high school students taking
computer science classes!
!
Strongly Agree!
85%
We need to address immigration
reform to retain more highly skilled
foreign workers!
65%
We need to increase the number of
college students retained in the
region after graduation!
!
76%
Agree!
Neutral!
Disagree!
Strongly Disagree!
We need to increase skills training
for our current workforce!
!
We need to increase the amount of
talent we attract from outside the region!
!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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12. How would you invest $100 million?
30
CXO Survey
Data
25
Million
20
15
10
5
0
Collaboration
between industry
and academia
(adjuncts, interns,
competitions, etc.)!
!
Integration of
computer
science/
programming
into grades 6-12!
Marketing of
Massachusetts
outside the
region to attract
tech talent!
Improve skills
training for
your current
workforce!
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
Transportation
improvements
to extend
commutable !
talent pool!
Increase
availability of
reasonably priced
(market rate)
housing units!
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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13. CS Education Week – Dec. 9-15th
EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Expanding Computing Education
for all Massachusetts Students
www.masstlcef.org
www.masscan.net
Preliminary Findings – MassTLC Confidential
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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14.
EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Expanding Computing Education for all Massachusetts Students
www.masstlcef.org
©2012 MASSTLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.