Dive Brief:

• Yet another business is teaming up with local educators to close the skills gap for STEM recruiting. DXC Technology has announced plans to create a "Digital Transformation Center" in New Orleans. The center promises to create 2,000 jobs over the next five years.
• DXC, an independent end-to-end IT service company, will partner with city and state educators, including Louisiana State University, Delgado Community College and others. They plan to recruit learners, develop programs for technology education, and provide ongoing learning and development opportunities. The initiative is the state’s largest single higher-education investment in a private-sector workforce partnership.
• The program is poised to increase the number of degree-holders in computer science, management and STEM fields, as well as STEM-related disciplines. Plans to open in New Orleans in January 2018 will be finalized soon, with recruiting and hiring already begun.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. Department of Labor reports there are more than half a million open tech-related jobs in the country. But with colleges and universities graduating fewer than 50,000 computer science majors per year, the gap between applicants and openings will continue to grow.

DXC is another in a string of companies partnering with local community groups, schools and states to address the gap that's already threatening the tech workforce. One leader at IBM called the current separation between needed skills and skills taught at schools as “appalling,” which is why some employers have stepped in to train workers themselves.

GE recently invested $25 million in Boston area schools to prep a new generation for STEM careers. IBM is shifting its hiring focus to skills based rather than credentialing, and reports suggest that a best practice for keeping an open applicant pipeline in STEM and other in-demand fields may be to begin even earlier, at the high school level.