IE11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

CompTIA Panel Discusses State of California's Tech Job Market

Legislators joined IT professionals in Sacramento on Wednesday for a panel discussion on the condition of California's tech job market and how the state's government can help.

Legislators joined IT professionals on Wednesday in Sacramento for a panel discussion on the condition of California's tech job market and how the state's government can help.

One in five jobs created last year in California were based in technology, Tim Herbert, CompTIA senior vice president of research and market intelligence, said about the job market. Two-thirds of those jobs are in technology infrastructure.

“Los Angeles is right at the [national] average between roughly 1 in 3 of their tech professionals work in software development, but the vast majority work in some other field of technology,” said Herbert.

Filling any tech jobs is proving to be a challenge, Herbert said.

While the average annual salary for a tech-sector employee is $154,000, fewer people are joining the industry, Herbert said. Even fewer millennials are entering the market than previous generations.

“There are 650,000 open tech jobs in the U.S. today and the pipeline that we have of young people coming into the tech sector is shrinking as we speak,” said Todd Thibodeaux, CEO of CompTIA.

“We have massive retirement coming, but we have the best years of tech ahead,” said Thibodeaux.

State legislators and agencies have begun to react.

“The real shortcoming we have is making sure we have educated workers in the tech industry. When we look at the role of the state, I think that’s our biggest role, making sure that our universities and our community colleges are providing enough people that are trained,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks.

Thibodeaux discussed expanding the pipeline by allowing for flexibility in hiring.

“There’s legislation pending that would continue funding for career education and training programs … but we understand that many tech jobs don’t require a four-year college degree. How do we get employers to begin to look at individuals that come from non-traditional routes?” said Thibodeaux.

Career tech education and four-year degrees at community colleges are two possible solutions, said Assemblymember Ian Calderon, D-Whittier.

The state’s Department of Technology has worked to make professional development a pillar of its strategic goals, streamlined the hiring process, assisted in reclassification of IT jobs across state hiring, and started working with high school students to encourage tech education.

The state of California is hiring employees even just out of high school and spends $8,000 to $12,000 a year educating each staff member, said Chris Cruz, the Department of Technology's chief deputy director.

Inclusion in the tech field is also a concern. Females represent an average of 34 percent of tech industry jobs across the nation.

“When we talk about pipeline, we can’t just be continuing to focus this on white males because then you are not going to get enough of a spectrum to fulfill your workforce needs,” Irwin said.

Kayla Nick-Kearney was a staff writer for Techwire from March 2017 through January 2019.