Did you know that the United States has an unemployment rate of 9.1% and the Conference Board estimates there are 3 job-seekers for every 1 available job; but in the computing and technology sector the unemployment rate is below 6%, and there are 3 jobs for every 1 job-seeker?
The Department of Labor projects that there will be a total of nearly 1.4 million computing-related jobs added in the U.S. by 2018, making technology one of the fastest-growing sectors. Yet the number of people graduating from college with computer or information sciences degrees has been decreasing steadily since 2004. At current rates of computing degree production, barely 60 percent of the vacant computing jobs expected by 2018 could be filled by U.S. graduates.
Comparisons between the number of projected technology job openings and the number of students studying computing-related fields around the country, made using newly gathered data from NCWIT, reflect a lack of preparedness for the demands of the 21st century. For example:
Most states (80%) are producing fewer computing graduates than needed to fill their projected computing-related jobs.
By contrast, 10 states currently produce more degree-holders in computing than anticipated state job openings.
In some congressional districts that overlap high-density metropolitan areas with growing tech sectors, fewer than half of the annual estimated job openings can be filled with local graduates. In the Denver/Boulder area of Colorado (CO-2), for example, where NCWIT is located, only 24% of the estimated 2,500 annual jobs can be filled with computing graduates from local universities.
Want to know the numbers where you live? You can use your local data to advocate for improved computing education and a broader technology workforce. Check out the interactive map at http://www.ncwit.org/edjobsmap.
Did You Know? is a brief round-up of information and news that crossed NCWIT’s radar this week that we think might be of interest to you. Practices or content of the news presented are not vetted or endorsed by NCWIT.
