Strapped for talent? Bootcamps are your answer

IT is experiencing a skills gap crisis. According to McKinsey, nearly 90 percent of companies are already experiencing one or will within the next few years.

The previous generation of IT workers has or is aging out of the workforce, taking their expertise with them. As all of their historical knowledge leaves the workforce, demand for talent -- particularly in areas like DevOps, automation, cloud, and cybersecurity -- is heightened. However, the number of tech jobs available continues to outpace the number of hires. One study found nearly 90 percent of leaders feel unprepared to fill that gap.  

There is also a dearth of platform talent. Even though more than two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies rely on mainframes, the next generation of IT talent is gravitating toward newer, trendier technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud computing. With companies embracing digital transformation that reinvents employee and customer experiences, how can they draw in new workers and provide them with the experience they need to fill the skills gap?  

Bootcamp programs are retraining workers for careers in IT -- and infusing the tech landscape with new tech talent. The next generation of IT workers are going to bootcamps to get hands-on, intensive training in specific technology areas. In turn, companies are getting workers with varied backgrounds that have tangible work experience providing the skills the business is lacking and team players who have learned how to work together in bootcamps to problem solve. Flatiron School is one such example.

New tech workers -- but with diverse work experiences

One of the benefits found in partnering with bootcamps for prospective employees is that they bring real-work experience. Bootcamps are re-training people who have been in the workforce for new roles in IT, focused on teaching practical skills in a short amount of time. Because of that, organizations that hire from bootcamps are obtaining motivated talent that has real-world experience and is positioned to put quickly into practice what they learned.

When they hire new workers with varied backgrounds, companies are also bringing diversity into the workforce. For example, at Rocket Software we’ve recently hired engineers who have worked in the arts, sales, and social services. Those backgrounds bring different thinking and problem-solving skills into the organization and provide a unique perspective and a broader range of experiences than traditional Computer Science-degree graduates. Today’s computer science graduates have options, which makes it hard for smaller organizations to compete with larger enterprises for that talent. Add to that a need for talent to manage the foundational back-office technologies that every organization runs on -- mainframe, ERP, CRM, for instance -- and your recruiting job gets that much harder.

Working with Flatiron, we’ve been able to bring in engineers that are working directly with our customers on implementing mainframe technology, process automation, and software. If we were solely dependent on infusing new talent into our organization from universities, our recruiting teams would get frustrated over the delays in filling job requisitions. By leveraging talent from bootcamps, we’re able to bring in professionals with in-demand skills that provide exactly what we’re looking for.

Experienced collaborators that know how to work as a team

Culture is paramount to business success, particularly in today’s hybrid work environments in which companies need to push collaboration and, more broadly, culture. Most businesses have a mix of remote and hybrid workers -- very rare is it to find workers today who are in the office for five days and 40 hours a week. That puts more of an onus on teamwork, but being able to master it regardless of where co-workers and leaders are based.

Tech bootcamps focus on collaboration and teamwork that are bought in on a collaborative culture from the get-go. Graduates are already comfortable working in a team environment and know how to solve problems together.

The future of the tech workforce

The last few years have brought many unexpected changes, but successful businesses are those that adapt. Finding the right tech talent is just another area that requires a shift in mindset.

Now is the time to recognize that tech bootcamps are a fantastic resource to complement an organization’s traditional recruiting practices. Not only does the tech bootcamp talent pool include passionate workers with diverse backgrounds, it enables employers to identify candidates with very specific sets of skills needed to fill gaps in their business. the tech landscape gets even more competitive and complex over the coming years, tech coding boot camps like Flatiron School can set any technical organization up for recruiting success.

Photo credit: Pressmaster / Shutterstock

Tara Gallone is VP, Talent, Rocket Software.