Silicon Valley ICT Study: Review of Findings
Community Technology Forum
September 29, 2011
Project Goals:
Research and analysis to understand Silicon Valley ICT strategic advantages and growth trends.
Develop sustainable relationships among theWIBs and their stakeholders, IT employers,economic developers, and education and training providers.
Provide actionable results to help job-seekers navigate the ICT workplace, and the WIBs assist their clients.
1. Silicon Valley ICT Study Review of Findings Silicon Valley in Transition: Community Technology Forum September 29, 2011
2. Project Goals Research and analysis to understand Silicon Valley ICT strategic advantages and growth trends. Develop sustainable relationships among the WIBs and their stakeholders, IT employers, economic developers, and education and training providers. Provide actionable results to help job-seekers navigate the ICT workplace, and the WIBs assist their clients.
11. 60% of employers expect to grow 15% growth rate across all jobs Flexibility and entrepreneurship are key Job-seekers must demonstrate problem solving skills Technical skills are still important, but demonstration of talent is critical Research Findings
12. “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler
13. WIB Recommendations Provide demonstration opportunities Provide resume and networking support Offer flexibility training Develop more pathways to placement Develop more valuable outreach to employers and build stronger relationships Continue collaborating with each other
15. Resume and Networking Support Show, Don’t Tell! Reflect Passion and Flexibility Provide Targeted Networking Opportunities Help Candidates be Reasonable in their Approaches
16. Offer Flexibility Training Teach Entrepreneurship Highlight the 21st Century Employers’ Needs Offer Contextualized Problem Solving
17. Develop Pathways to Placement Recognize the rise of functions over titles Provide cross-functional training Help candidates understand business a well as technical aspects of the cluster
18. Offer Value to Employers Don’t be a charity case Don’t assume that engagement will lead to better candidates for employers – they’re not hiring them anyway Do provide access to important people Consider quarterly leadership meetings
22. If Talent is the Key Competitive Advantage Then competing for entrepreneurs includes competing for workers and their families The SVLG CEO Survey reported “a deteriorating state infrastructure in areas ranging from public education to public transportation has added to the difficulties of recruiting the best workforce, finding them housing and educating their children to be tomorrow’s world-class workforce”
23. Successful workforce development is a partnership between WIBs, our funders, educational and training partners, business and labor and community groups. Today job seeker prospects depend on the national economy recovering, California being a great place to live and work and adequate funding for WIB activities but also for our partners. WIBs Help Job Seekers by Helping Our Partners
24. Investing in People, Infrastructure & Communities The need to invest comes at a time when public budgets in California are struggling to maintain even basic public services . There are no magic bullets to finance these investments. Yet to postpone investing goes against one of the founding principles of success for Silicon Valley companies “invest or die”. What is right for our companies is right for our public sector as well.
25.
26. Training the next generation in these fields is part of a competitiveness agenda