TechMaine Releases Workforce Skills Census Findings

TechMaine Releases Workforce Skills Census Findings - Maine has strong IT professional assets but need exists for new/additional educational opportunities.

The Census report is now available.

Maine’s Technology Industry Association, TechMaine, has completed a census of Maine’s technology workforce skills.  Conducted in the second and third quarters of 2009, respondent data indicates that Maine has strong IT professional assets in terms of skills and educational achievements of workers.  However, there is a need and a demand among IT professionals for new and additional educational opportunities including just-in-time skills training to address the training needs of emerging technologies.  The skills census found that:

• The percentage of respondents from Maine’s IT workforce with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher is 79%, which is significantly higher than both the national percentage of the general public and the national percentage of Science and Engineering workers.
• There is demand for further technology training. Respondents were asked to indicate interest in training in each of thirty-eight technical areas.  For each of the thirty-eight areas there was demand ranging from a low of 8% to a high of 32% among respondents.

Joseph Kumiszcza, Executive Director of TechMaine indicates “While Maine’s IT workers are well positioned to address the demand of the fastest growing jobs in Maine there is a need for additional offerings to support Maine’s IT workforce.  Kumiszcza adds that “TechMaine has used the results of the skills census to continue to serve a leading role in increasing access to, and delivery of, just-in-time IT workforce training and professional development. TechMaine will be blending online learning into its professional development offerings through a grant from the Maine Technology Institute.” Existing programs of TechMaine promote continual learning through User Groups, Resource Library, Online Forums and networking events.

In addition to industry provided solutions, the skills census results suggest the need for greater support for the University system to enhance post-secondary degree programs; to increase emphasis on business integration skills within the curriculum; and to develop opportunities for rapid, finely targeted learning, perhaps in the form of modularized college courses and fractional credits.

What does all of this mean to the future of Maine?  Catherine Renault, Director of Maine’s Office of Innovation who oversees and evaluates Maine’s R&D investments, says “Maine’s innovation success is highly reliant on developing a thick pool of IT skills among the states’ workforce.  This is important not only to support new business growth but to strengthen and grow the states’ traditional industries.”   Renault adds, “IT is part of every industry sector and can help make Maine business more innovative and competitive.”

The skills census was funded as part of a $2 million U.S. Department of Labor BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) Implementation Grant received by the State of Maine. The project goals are to enhance the information technology cluster, to stimulate job creation in the cluster, and to develop skills among secondarily impacted workers affected by the closure of Naval Air Station Brunswick. The grant project is a partnership among the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the Maine Office of Innovation (OOI), the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL), and private industry including the Technology Association of Maine. Other partners are: Coastal Communities Workforce Board (CCWB), TechAmerica, and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA).  The full Skills Census report is available at:
 http://www.techmaine.com/files/TechMaine-Skills-Census-Report-2009.pdf