Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/607380
19 2 015 R E P O R T T O T H E C O M M U N I T Y M onika Heninger didn't initially plan a career in information technology. When beginning her college career at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, she focused her pursuits on a business degree expecting to work in marketing. Sure, she would use technology as part of her job, but she never saw it as a career path. But as her academic career advanced, Heninger found she wasn't enjoying the marketing and advertising classes she was taking. en she took an introduction to technology class. From there, she was hooked. "I think it was the problem solving that I liked. at's what IT really is — making things work better," says Heninger, who subsequently transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to take advantage of its broader IT programs. Heninger will graduate this month with a bachelor's degree in business administration-information systems, including an emphasis on mobile technologies. She is now planning a career in information technology. "Almost everyone uses a computer almost every single day. Technology is something we experience every day," Heninger says. Fortunately for Northeast Wisconsin, Heninger plans to stay and work in the region. As the demand for IT skills has increased, regional industry leaders have also discovered there is an acute shortage of professionals who can fill the jobs. We're going to need graduates like Heninger to succeed economically. We're also going to need more of them. An informal survey conducted in late 2014 found 240 IT-related job openings at just six major employers in Northeast Wisconsin. A formal survey conducted in the first half of 2015 confirmed the severity of the challenge. e region is expected to see a gap of nearly 1,300 IT professionals in 2016, a number projected to grow to nearly 3,000 by 2021, costing the region more than $200 million in wages and uncountable lost opportunities for growth. Fortunately for the region, industry and education leaders have responded to the challenge. Working under the umbrella of the Northeast Wisconsin Educational Resource Alliance (NEW ERA, a consortium of the region's educational institutions) a group of educators, workforce development experts and industry leaders commissioned a detailed study of the talent challenges facing the region. at group has since coalesced into the NEW IT Alliance, pursuing a multi- prong strategy to building a robust pipeline that will fill the talent pool in the short term while keeping it topped off for years to come. "We are not necessarily perceived as a technology space," says Jeff Lang, CEO of Omni Resources, Appleton, and one of the industry pros driving the IT Alliance effort. "For an entrepreneurial IT professional, this is a great place to have a great career." e core elements of the strategy include: » Education – a longer-term solution that will involve education at all levels from K-12 to the regional colleges and universities. » Recruitment – is can help fill the gap short term, though we will be competing against other regions, driving up wages. » Marketing – e region must show itself as a great place to live where a professional can have a successful and diverse career. "We need people to realize that technology careers are no longer about sitting in a windowless room and writing lines of code," says Michelle Schuler, director of business development with Excelion Partners, co-founder of the Northeast Wisconsin chapter of Women in Technology and among the core advocates behind the creation of the IT Alliance. "e field is so broad — whether it's e-commerce, business analysis, traditional technology or graphic arts — there are many facets and ways we touch and are touched by technology," she says. e pace of that technology deployment will only increase, even here in Northeast Wisconsin, where a manufacturing-dominated economy may cause some to think the technology demands are not as great as other regions. Recently released research from PricewaterhouseCoopers found 90 percent of manufacturers nationally are planning to invest in IT technologies over the next 12 to 18 months, according to the Q3 2015 Manufacturing Barometer. e prevalence of technology in the workplace is an ironic contrast to the growing IT talent gap. Changing perceptions will be an important part of the overall strategy. e good news is the region has tremendous assets to support the overall effort. Northeast Wisconsin is blessed with a responsive K-12 system interested in ramping up its science, technology and math curriculum to expose students to technology careers earlier. e technical schools and universities have programs already producing a small, though steady, crop of graduates each year. e problem is there are just not continued > "We are not necessarily perceived as a technology space. For an entrepreneurial IT professional, this is a great place to have a great career." – Jeff Lang, CEO of Omni Resources, Appleton