States are struggling to bring ina robust, excited and motivated millennial workforce and if left unaddressed, it could renderstates unableto keep up with the progress of technology innovation, a group of state technology leaders said.
Indeed, a 2015 survey of state chief information officers indicated that 86 percent of respondents are struggling to fill vacant information technology positions, primarily through the hiring of members of the millennial generation.
On the annual top 10 priority list for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, workforce issues placed No. 8in 2016. In 2015, the topic ranked as the No. 6 priority for the first time since it initially appeared on the list in 2008.
Michael Cockrill, the chief information officer for Washington state, said his state was tackling attracting millennials through rebranding state government.
As people come out of their current job, or as they come out of a university, they get drawn to a particular brand, Cockrill said. What were trying to do is to attract them to the brand public service, and to do that, we feel like we need to reinvent it.
In Illinois, Marian Cook, the chief strategy officer for the newlyformed Department of Innovation and Technology, said the state is trying to do similar work through the creation of the new department and the states efforts to become the first Smart State.
That transition is driving a lot of change, as you can imagine, Cook said. Weve got the generations changing guard, and weve got an incredible need for new skills.
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