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Missouri Celebrates IT Professionals Day; Continues to Grow Tech Workforce

  • September 15, 2020

Today is IT Professionals Day – a day dedicated to honoring the men and women we rely on to keep us connected. Missouri’s tech workforce includes thousands of the top IT talent, and it’s expected to grow even more in the coming years. Between 2018 and 2023, the state’s tech workforce is expected to grow by 9.5%, ranking it ninth among U.S. states. Missouri was also recently highlighted among the six hot emerging tech hubs for IT job seekers by CIO.

Missouri has a strategic plan to grow its IT workforce as the region becomes the newest tech hub in the U.S. One of the state’s newest initiatives to increase the number of IT professionals in the state is to target a new key demographic: workers laid off due to COVID-19. The Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development has teamed up with CompTIA, a nonprofit technology trade association, to provide free IT training to individuals whose employment has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The technology workforce is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the U.S. labor market, even amidst the continuing uncertainties of COVID-19,” said Mark Plunkett, Senior Director of Global Training Operations and Business Development for CompTIA Custom Training. “By committing resources to this unique training program, Missouri has taken a positive step to expand the state’s tech workforce. More importantly, the state is opening the door to new career options for some of its citizens. CompTIA is prepared to lend its full support to this effort.”

Missouri is using federal CARES Act funding to provide the training, which will be made available to up to 1,000 Missouri residents. Training offered through the partnership will include online programs to provide professional certification in information technology, cybersecurity and project management.

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