Leaders of local private and public employers joined together Wednesday (Sept. 18) in brainstorming how to recruit more IT workers, which they called a major challenge facing the local economy.
They left the Gainesville Information Technology Conference, held at the GRU Eastside Operations Center, brimming with ideas and enthusiastically committing to work together with the rest of the community to make Gainesville a “hip” place to work in IT. Suggestions offered included:
- Presenting comparisons showing that Gainesville’s pay stacks up relatively well when you consider the high cost of living in places such as Silicon Valley, Chicago or New York
- Getting students involved in IT as early as middle school through an IT camp and by bringing guest speakers from businesses into the classroom
- Using events such as arts festivals and Fest, Gainesville’s nationally known annual punk rock music celebration, to promote IT opportunities
The IT job promotion event, sponsored by the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce and FloridaWorks, attracted participants including representatives of Infinite Energy, Tower Hill Insurance Group, several startup companies, the City of Gainesville, GRU, Alachua County Schools and Santa Fe College.
Seventy of Tower Hill’s 300 employees work in IT, said human resources director Richard Gwin. “Filling IT jobs is our biggest challenge,” he said. “We’re a mature company, and we could do a better job selling ourselves to today’s generation.”
Employers need to recognize that young workers can be highly productive although they’re communicating with people outside the workplace while in the job, said Andres Marin, Tower Hill’s chief information officer. “They may be networking and asking their friends, ‘Hey guys, what would you do in this situation?’” he said.
Quentin Thomas, co-founder of Queso Media Group, said the community needs to tell its story better to IT students and new grads. “I just found out about all our springs,” he said. “Why didn’t I know about them earlier? I’ve been here seven years.”
Local groups should fund computers for students who don’t have them, suggested David Daus, GRU’s IT manager.
“When I was in college, I used to spend 16 hours a day on the weekend programming because I loved it so much,” he said. “Having access to computers only in the library or the computer lab isn’t going to cut it.”
The session ended with participants volunteering to help achieve the Gainesville Information Technology’s action plan, which includes:
- Hosting quarterly luncheons to discuss IT hiring issues
- Holding workshops for IT job seekers
- Expanding IT educational opportunities
- Hosting an IT summit for a national audience
- Creating a marketing campaign highlighting IT opportunities in the Gainesville area.
These efforts can make a big difference, said Deborah Bowie, the chamber’s vice president of chamber development. “Who wouldn’t want to work in a community like that?” she asked.