TechPoint wants to add 41K tech workers
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The vice president of talent pathways and programs for TechPoint is giving a blunt assessment of Indiana’s ability to attract and retain workers for the state’s growing technology ecosystem. “The system that we have is broken,” said Dennis Trinkle, who joined the organization in January. “Organizations aren’t able to get all of the talent that they need.” In response to the need, the nonprofit announced a one-day, kick-off event – Launch Mission41K.
The state’s growth initiative for Indiana’s tech ecosystem created the initiative to grow the tech workforce by 41,000 by 2030.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Trinkle said the movement is an attempt to solidify Indiana’s national reputation as a vibrant tech hub.
“We’re trying to start a movement, trying to get employers, community organizations, government organizations, really all of the actors to come together to attack Indiana’s most critical challenge, which is growing the workforce and, in our case, the tech workforce, that driven workforce by 2030,” explained Trinkle.
LISTEN: Trinkle further explains the growing need for Indiana to provide an ample workforce for high tech companies that may want to do business in the Hoosier State.
More than 184,000 Hoosiers work in tech and tech-enabled roles, but Trinkle says that is not enough to satisfy the growing demand.
“We’re going to be calling on everybody to work together to attack that problem. And then, holding up strategies that employers can use for being able to get the talent that they need, and develop the talent that they need,” Trinkle said.
The kickoff event, scheduled for late September, will host nearly 250 Hoosier companies, state agencies and other stakeholders to examine strategies to address the tech worker shortfall. TechPoint says the Indiana tech workforce has grown by 16.3% over the past decade, a 60% faster growth rate than seen across other sectors.
“We think the talent is out there. We have to create pathways of opportunity for the talent to help lift them up, to upskill them, to give them ways to get into the workforce,” Trinkle said.
TechPoint says growing the Indiana tech workforce is challenged by fewer people entering the workforce as older workers retire. But another problem is competition, not only in tech-centric hubs along the east or west coast, but neighboring states.
Indiana’s neighbors are aggressively pursuing multi-billion-dollar investment projects, like electric vehicle battery plants, or semiconductor manufacturers.
“Whenever those sites election groups are looking for where they want to put their research or their manufacturing labs, the very first thing that they drill in on is what’s the talent pipeline,” said Trinkle. “What we’re trying to do is make Indiana’s pipeline, the most robust in the nation so that when organizations are looking at Indiana, or they’re looking at Ohio, or they’re looking at Oklahoma, they come to Indiana because we’ve got the talent to drive their enterprises.”
The Launch Mission41K event is scheduled for September 27 at the Indiana State Museum. The event will include a variety of breakout sessions that will focus on educating participants about Mission41K, skills-based hiring and apprenticeship opportunities.
“We have a terrific panel of employers, including Lilly, Cummins, [and] Allegion talking about the things that they’re doing right now to innovatively attract talent, to develop talent, and most importantly, to open up pathways of opportunity so that we can have the workforce that we need to fuel innovation and growth,” said Trinkle.