I don’t have a lot of time to attend conferences, so I tend to be very selective and only go if I see real business value. Over the last two weeks, I attended two important technology conferences (yes, two in two weeks – my family is not very happy with me): The Young Presidents Organization (YPO) annual IT Network Conference (this year focused on mobility) and the Best of Breed Conference which brings together top technology solutions companies across the nation. I will separately blog about some key learnings from both conferences.
Over the last two weeks, the most repeated question I was asked by my peers, journalists, vendors and others is what I considered to be Axispoint’s most critical challenge. The answer, simply put, is recruiting. The US unemployment rate remains over 9%. People want to work and are searching for positions. The problem is the unemployed are not in technology and if they are, they have been difficult to find in the geographies we serve. Axispoint has worked diligently to hire over 30 new employees the last four months, but it has been nothing less than painstaking. We have multiple people internally and externally attempting to find and hire the right talent, but in many cases they either don’t exist or aren’t leaving their current positions. One of the reasons many US companies have looked overseas (e.g., India, China, Brazil, etc.) is to have greater scalability opportunities (as well gain cost efficiencies).
I believe we have an education disconnect in the US. Not everyone has to attend a four year college to have an important role in technology. It seems a part of our issue is a mismatch in skills. I believe if some folks were to obtain technology training and skills at a multitude of institutions and organizations, the technology firms across the US could put more Americans to work.
In Monday’s (10/24/11) Wall Street Journal (“The Journal Report”), Peter Cappelli disagrees with this premise or at a minimum takes an alternative point of view. His thought is that the education system is not failing our economy, but rather, companies deserve a lot of the blame themselves for unemployment. First of all, I’m not saying the education system is to blame; I’m saying we need to re-educate some of our workforce to meet demands in the marketplace. In other words, if there was a significant need for actuaries, and there were 100,000 vacancies for this type of work, it would be nice if supply could be developed over time to meet the demand.
I do agree with Dr. Cappelli that sometimes it can be a catch 22 in that recruiters often want people who already have a job. However, I only partially buy-in that there is a “clearing problem” in the US; i.e., he argues there isn’t a skill shortage, but rather companies won’t pay the clearing price for the talent. I believe both issues exist, though in the near-term I really see a shortfall in IT talent. Axispoint and my peers are experiencing it every day. When I answered the critical challenge question with recruiting, my peers vehemently agreed stating that they are living with the same dilemma.
We are attempting to come up with innovative solutions. We are trying to figure out how to hire smart talent and then train them. These are important things to do and companies like mine need to perform these tasks. I think the real change though comes to bear when companies act in combination with the workforce developing new skills based on changing market demands. To get America back to work, it will be a collective effort. Technology is a hot bed and a great place to start.