SACRAMENTO, Calif.,
Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
the California Department of Industrial Relations, the California
Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS), the Department of
Technology (CDT), SEIU Local 1000 (Local 1000), and various state
agencies along with IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced the state's
first-ever public-private partnership focused on creating a
technology apprenticeship program. This program will adopt IBM's
proven apprenticeship model to address a statewide skills shortage
in three critical fields: Mainframe System Administration (MSA),
Software Engineering (SWE), and Application Development
(AD).
Sponsors of the zSystems Apprenticeship Pilot Program are the
California Government Operations Agency, Employment Development
Department, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency,
California Department of Technology, Franchise Tax Board,
California Department of Industrial Relations, Department of Motor
Vehicles, and SEIU Local 1000.
Working alongside IBM, the CDT will adopt IBM's gold standard
apprenticeship framework, which is registered with the U.S.
Department of Labor, to upskill its current incumbent workforce and
build a new corps of professionals with mainframe skills that are
sought-after in state agencies as well as the private sector.
Local 1000's Research Department estimates that there is an
18.6% vacancy rate in state civil service IT positions, and
currently not enough applicants with the right mix of skills to
fill these jobs. By using IBM's apprenticeship program as a model,
the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) can
fast-track new apprenticeship roles and directly address the skills
gap by expanding access to new learning opportunities. Apprentices
in the program will participate in on-the-job training, mentoring,
and classes – all while earning a paycheck in an "earn while you
learn" model that can provide valuable skills without the need to
take on new student debt.
"We are looking forward to this apprenticeship program advancing
our efforts to put more people into the mainframe jobs pipeline,"
said Amy Tong State Chief
Information Officer and Director of the Department of Technology.
"This program will offer those new to the workforce, as well as
mid-career workers, an opportunity to acquire skills for in-demand
public technology jobs as we move toward one digital
government."
"By placing skills – not credentials – at the center of training
and education initiatives aimed at addressing the tech industry's
skills gap, we can continue preparing more students and working
professionals for new collar jobs that don't necessarily require a
Bachelor's degree or a previous career in technology," said
Kelli Jordan, Director of Career and
Skills at IBM. "Our goal is to continue making the technology
industry more inclusive, through initiatives like our scalable and
replicable 21st century apprenticeship program model."
For two-thirds of the Fortune 100 and across the public sector,
IBM Z plays an essential role in the transition to hybrid cloud
environmentsi, especially where security, privacy and
agility are paramount. There is a growing opportunity across the
public and private sector to expand skill sets to prepare the next
generation for jobs of the future. The State of California utilizes the latest IBM Z
platform to provide the highest levels of secure availability to
critical state programs, perform analytics and machine learning to
improve field office operations, and process millions of
transactions daily to deliver core citizen services.
Interested state employees can expect the application period to
open this winter and anticipate coursework to begin in early 2020.
The selection process includes an application screening, an oral
interview, and a written aptitude test. Participating departments
will select the most qualified applicants for the
apprenticeship.
For more information visit the California Department of
Industrial Relations and the California Department of Technology
careers websites. You can also follow #NewCollarJobs or visit
ibmpolicy.com for more.
California Department of Technology Contact
Information:
Bob
Andosca
Information Officer II
(916) 324-2320
bob.andosca@state.ca.gov
IBM Contact Information:
Isabel Peña
Alfaro
IBM Communications
(917) 657-0665
isabel.penaalfaro@ibm.com
i"IBM Unveils z15 With Industry-First Data Privacy
Capabilities"
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SOURCE IBM