Amidst a booming U.S. economy, one industry is facing a major shortage of qualified workers. A recent survey shows a massive talent gap in the technology sector. The worker shortage has left companies scrambling and existing IT professionals overworked and burned out.
Abid Abedi, founder of the company iCode, has seen this phenomenon first-hand. "In my own case I'm trying to hire tech people, and it's very, very tough to find good people...there's a tremendous shortage," he tells iHeartMedia.
The basic issue is the advancement of technology has outpaced the supply of those who can run it. "A recent study finds 65 percent of the jobs in 2030 have not been invented yet," says Abedi. "So we have a huge tsunami of tech jobs that are coming up, and we really don't have the workforce to work in those jobs."
Abedi tells iHeartMedia the solution is creating a more qualified, prepared workforce, which starts with an overhaul of education. "Our education system---from elementary to high school to the university---is broken, because what we are teaching and how we are teaching has not changed in a long, long, long time...while the types of jobs and the society we live in have changed dramatically," says Abedi. "Unless we fundamentally change the (education) system, we will stay in this circular argument that we don't have enough talent because we aren't producing enough talent."
That fundamental change in education Abedi talks about goes beyond future IT professionals to simply preparing young people for the advanced world we live in. "Regardless of whether they want to be in the computer industry or not, you have to know programming," he says. "Programming is the language of the future, and it is absolutely imperative that (young people) learn technology."