CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux revealed the association’s new initiative, Project Agora, during his state of the industry remarks at EMEA Member and Partner Conference, held in London.
“The goal of Project Agora is to create the most respected place to start, build and supercharge your tech career,” he said. “With amazing resources and broad support from our members, partners and industry, Project Agora will help people find success in the tech workforce.”
The labour market is in a period of unprecedented transition, characterised in large part by the volume of frictional unemployment as individuals search for, or transition from one job to another. This was emphasised in recent research from the Learning and Work Institute, which found that 34% of adults are seeking to change jobs or pursue other career options within the next two years.
“Our challenge is to convert more career intent people to tech intent,” Thibodeaux said. “We need to tell better stories, more consistently, about how truly great it is to work in tech. The way we get the talent we need is by fighting for it.”
Project Agora will help in that effort, first by enabling individuals to explore in great depth tech jobs and careers and then through creating resources to engage users and convert them from career intent to tech intent.
CompTIA has also issued a call to action for the industry to get involved in this effort to build the best, most comprehensive collection of tech career resources available anywhere.
“Confidence gaps, career transition gaps and reskilling gaps are not insurmountable barriers but rather opportunities to chart a new course for individuals and the companies that employ them,” Thibodeaux concluded. “Project Agora is all about unlocking potential, for the industry, and for millions of people we want and need working in it.”
