It’s time to bridge the tech talent gap!

Blacks in Technology Foundation has partnered with Apprenti in an effort to increase Black representation across the tech industry through developing, recruiting, and retaining diverse talent, per PR Newswire.

Through the partnership, Apprenti — a national leader in delivering registered tech apprenticeship programs — will continue their work to place non-traditional hires into in-demand tech careers.

While there are three million available tech jobs in America today, the nation’s colleges only produce 80,000 computer science graduates each year.

“Both job seekers and companies need to expand their thinking when it comes to job placement and hiring,” said Dennis Schultz, Executive Director of the Blacks in Technology Foundation in an official news release. “We’re already seeing a shift in IT job requirements away from four-year and advanced college degrees in mathematics and computer science towards practitioner level skills. The only real question is, can the candidate do the work required? We see Apprenti as a practical solution to the challenge of filling key IT roles.”

Along with a lack of computer science graduates, many employers only recruit from certain schools and over-rely on college graduates.

They also don’t pull from the largest pool of available talent and because of this practice, Black professionals and other minorities are drastically underrepresented in technology roles.

“While the lack of representation in the tech workforce is well documented, there’s still plenty of work to do when it comes to building systems that offer equal opportunity,” said Jennifer Carlson, Co-Founder, and Executive Director, Apprenti in the release. “Blacks in Technology Foundation is making real progress when it comes to diversifying tech talent, and we’re proud to offer a proven program that will strengthen these efforts.”

Now, Apprenti and Blacks In Technology Foundation are collaborating to not only expose more Black professionals to the tech sector but increase access to tech training opportunities and ultimately help Black people lock in fulfilling careers in the industry.

Blacks In Technology Foundation

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