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Nearly 2,700 American technology workers in 12 states will receive advanced information technology (IT) job training in the coming months in programs administered by CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association.

CompTIA announced today it has received two grants totaling $6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration. The H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants are intended to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign workers in specialty occupations such as computer science, information technology, architecture, engineering, surveying, biotechnology, biomedical research and manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing technology.

Workers in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas will participate in the advanced IT training program administered by CompTIA.

 “Each of these regions share a key characteristic – a projected long term demand for IT professionals in high-skills, high-level positions,” said John Venator, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA.

“These training investments are targeted at occupational areas that have been identified on the basis of H-1B occupations as high technology skills shortage areas.”

These areas include software and communications services; telecommunications; systems installation and integration; computers and communications hardware; advanced manufacturing; health care technology; biotechnology; biomedical research and manufacturing; and innovation services.

Companies whose employees will participate in the advanced IT training include Allstate, Citi Group, ComputerLand, IBM, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, OTAi, ValCom, and VanCura.

Funding for the grants comes from fees paid by employers who bring foreign workers to the United States under H-1B non-immigrant visas. The H-1B visas allow employers to hire non-immigrants to work in the U.S. in high skill or specialty occupations on a temporary basis. In addition, companies and organizations participating in the program must match at least 100 percent of the grant award amount, either in cash or in-kind services. Between the two grants awarded to CompTIA, the total match commitment from participants is more than $7.4 million

“These businesses are generating the demand for jobs, in particular those high skill occupations filled today by temporary H-1B workers,” said Neill Hopkins, vice president, workforce development and training, CompTIA. “We are working closely with these employers and the education providers to develop and manage a program that matches training with the skills needed in the workforce of the 21st century.”

Participating companies will select individuals to receive the advanced IT training. Workers are identified based on a range of factors addressing both the company’s current needs and the current skill levels of employees to be re-trained. Training is tailored to the specific needs of the selected incumbent and unemployed workers, both in content and delivery, and may include on-the-job training, distance learning, or combinations of training and educational techniques.

Occupations targeted for advanced training include web designers, web developers, network architects, systems engineers, software engineers, database administrators, systems analysts, software quality assurance specialists, application developers, IT project managers, IT security specialists, computer engineers, analog design engineers, computer programmers, computer and information systems managers, database administrators, systems architects, web architects, marketing engineers, network administrators, programmer analysts, security administrators, and software application engineers.

About CompTIA
CompTIA is a global trade association representing the business interests of the information technology industry. For more than 22 years CompTIA has provided research, networking and partnering opportunities to its more than 19,000 members in 89 countries.  The association is involved in developing standards and best practices, and influencing the political, economic and educational arenas that impact IT worldwide. More information is at www.comptia.org.

Contact:
Steven M. Ostrowski
CompTIA
+1(630) 678 8468 

sostrowski@comptia.org