Thinking Outside the Box to Prepare Americans for Information Technology Jobs

The Department of Labor projects that there will be 1.4 million new information technology jobs by 2020, and there simply may not be enough adequate training programs to prepare Americans for these jobs.

Traditional workforce training programs are stepping up -- expanding their IT programs and working with industry to develop curricula that better prepare Americans for today’s jobs.

The Obama Administration is particularly committed to supporting a new accelerated model of intensive training, often called “coding bootcamps,” which has emerged in several cities around the country. Coding bootcamps teach participants with minimal to no IT backgrounds how to write computer code on an accelerated time frame (usually between 9 and 12 weeks) and regularly result in high paying jobs (frequently around $70,000).

[Overmann is Senior Advisor to the United States Chief Technology Officer, Aidinoff is Assistant Director for Policy in the Office of the Vice President]