The First State wants to build a more diverse tech talent pipeline. And the Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) has some ideas to make that happen.
In the past two years, jobs in the information technology and computer science fields have increased by 20%.
But an estimated three-quarters of Delaware IT workers are men and almost 60% are white. Black and Latino talent only fill only about 15% of the state’s of IT jobs.
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) is working with JPMorgan Chase on a strategic plan to change that.
“And the project is to - sort of take a look at the current landscape of IT professionals or people who are or may be interested in a career in IT - and make every effort to diversify those individuals who are in the pipeline or who are or may be interested in IT positions,” said Delaware Prosperity Partnership’s director of talent service Charles Madden.
From August 2019 to July 2020, Delaware averaged more than 4,000 IT job postings and 474 hires per month.
Madden says looking at data nationwide, it appears marketing to underserved and underrepresented demographics can increase their interest in IT.
He notes that many in those demographics are unaware of the pathway to IT professions such as healthcare, education and government.
Madden says they teamed with JPMorgan Chase and dozens of other businesses and organizations to take a hard look at the Delaware's IT pipeline.
"The first step was a quantitative analysis and that was done using both public and proprietary information,. Then the second approach was stakeholder input," said Madden. "And then third we took a look at national and best practices and looked at examples of what is working across the country.”
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership says the goal is to help more Black and Litino men and women explore IT careers and interests.
