South Florida's tech sector is booming; Now we must train our students for those jobs
South Florida’s technology sector is booming, thanks to a combination of investor-friendly policies and support from local government, educational institutions, and other industries. In 2022, South Florida's tech economy contributed $26.4 billion to the region's economic activity. With over 10,000 tech businesses in the area, we’re making strides in transitioning our economy to a forward-facing, digitally empowered hub for innovation with boundless potential for growth.
At the same time, a frequent challenge we’ve faced in preparing to meet the demands of the future is ensuring that our workforce is up to the task. Despite boasting the highest number of tech graduates across the state, South Florida's tech market outpaced the supply of skilled workers, creating more than 15,000 new tech jobs from 2018 to 2022, compared to a little more than 14,000 graduates from 2017 to 2021. The desire and opportunities are both present: students are interested and motivated to pursue tech careers and there are plenty of new jobs available but acquiring the skills, training, and foundation needed to take them can prove challenging.
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South Florida Tech Hub (“Tech Hub”) is working to address this by partnering with schools and tech companies to provide training programs that prepare students to jumpstart their careers. We further our reach by coordinating with other nonprofits and workforce development organizations such as CareerSource, TechGateway, and Junior Achievement.
Digital literacy is an essential skill in today’s world and the more exposure kids have to opportunities, the better equipped they will be to realize them. Through programs such as Tech Hub Foundation’s Flamingo Coders classes for students, K-12 students are introduced to computer coding technology and careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics).
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There is a real lack of tech professionals in areas such as cybersecurity and now emerging technologies, including generative AI, blockchain, and mixed reality tech. To empower this next wave of tech, Tech Hub’s Tech Talent Committee has been bringing together higher education and industry partners in the South Florida technology community on a monthly basis to explore these timely topics of AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and other emerging technologies, as well as through our annual Higher Education Conference and Tech Talent Fest. These initiatives can make a huge difference in students’ lives, opening the door to lifelong careers with higher pay and room for future growth. Indeed, average annual salaries for our region are on the rise and routinely rank well over six figures.
Workforce initiatives of this kind can be hard to quantify at first. After all, the goal is to eventually foster a culture of innovation by bringing together quality candidates of all ages with ideas and equipping them with the means to make those ideas a reality. But it’s an incredibly vital effort because even if it takes time to show results, there’s no overstating just how important developing our workforce is for the future of our economy and the growth we’ll be able to achieve.
Investing in our tech workforce means investing in our future. South Florida has managed to capture lightning in a bottle with our vibrant culture of innovation. Connecting our innovators and priming them to bring their dreams to fruition will be key to ensuring the future growth of our region into a hub for continued technological progress. By equipping our students with the skills they need to not only succeed but thrive in the digitally driven world of tomorrow, we can ensure that our workforce is well-prepared to meet the needs of our constantly evolving technology sector and that South Florida is leading the charge.
Nikki Cabusis CEO of the South Florida Tech Hub, a South Florida-based nonprofit focused on building South Florida into one of the world’s technology centers of excellence.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tech job training for Youth is key to South Florida economic growth
