QUESTION
Which communities or demographics should be targeted to increase New Yorkers' placement in tech jobs?
2:09:20
·
3 min
The discussion addresses the need for targeted efforts to place more New Yorkers in tech jobs, mentioning current strategies and gaps.
- Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez questions whether there are specific demographics or communities that should be prioritized.
- Daniel Golliher highlights a general interest in tech across various populations and mentions grassroots movements, new educational institutions, and hackathons as avenues for entering the tech field.
- He suggests that partnerships could play a critical role in bridging gaps.
- Greg Morris points out that while investments have focused on young people and schools, there's a lack of attention on adult reskilling and upskilling, and he emphasizes the importance of investments in adult workforce to leverage current talent for tech careers.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
2:09:20
Do you think on the the path way for more New Yorkers being placed in tech jobs.
2:09:26
Do you think that there is particular communities that we should be focusing on?
2:09:32
Demographics age raised ZIP codes that we should be focusing on more.
2:09:36
I I I completely agree it is about investment, but there are their holes in the work in workforce in general.
2:09:42
So are there certain communities that we should be investing in.
2:09:46
I was encouraged to hear the the commissioner say that it was not the the 20% of Nigeria residents that have yet to connected is not specific to age necessarily, but, like, just, you know, lacking trust that this is, like, a viable program.
2:09:59
Is there are there opportunities for specific groups that we should be focusing in focusing on, excuse me, right now?
Daniel Golliher
2:10:08
I mean, in general, I think it cross cuts throughout the entire population and a lot of people are looking to break into tech and they're coming from somewhere else.
2:10:15
So the big question is, well, how do you do that?
2:10:17
Yeah.
2:10:17
And Of course, there are established schools.
2:10:20
There are established coding boot camps, but there's also a tremendous grassroots movement that I've certainly witnessed of people helping each other.
2:10:28
Learn to code.
2:10:28
There are new, like I mean, in your district specifically, there's a a new community college called University.
2:10:34
That's sort of a bootstraps thing that has its own
Jennifer Gutiérrez
2:10:37
Totally.
Daniel Golliher
2:10:37
Fractal university Okay.
2:10:39
That has its own coding boot camps.
2:10:40
I mean, in general, I do think there's strong interest from the population, there are so many new institutions that are bringing up.
2:10:46
So, I mean, and hackathons that come with them that are open to wide amounts of people.
2:10:50
So, if I were to say some what the executive branch could do or what the council could do.
2:10:56
The amount of partnerships that are possible are huge.
2:10:59
It's just a matter of connecting with that list of people that already exist.
2:11:02
But it's very encouraging to know that those large groups of people do exist.
Greg Morris
2:11:07
If I could just add one one thought to that, it would be to say that part of what I wanted to lead with was because I know we're in a difficult budget environment and it's gonna maintain that, I think, challenge moving forward despite the city council's awareness of dollars that perhaps other folks hadn't been recognizing.
2:11:24
The investments that this administration related to technology have largely been about young people in school.
2:11:30
Mhmm.
2:11:30
It's been about CUNY, which is a smart strategic investment.
2:11:34
It's been about thinking about pathways specific to public schools.
2:11:38
Right?
2:11:38
So you're seeing that.
2:11:40
What's missing is the reskilling, upskilling options.
2:11:43
What's missing is folks who need access to digital literacy.
2:11:46
Programs again like BridgeProtect, the BridgeProtect model that the city council had championed in years past, which was specifically about helping folks on public assistance be able to find IT pathways by virtue of helping with academic remediation, training programs, advanced training programs, those particular elements were all critical, all critical to folks who had wanted to have access to careers in tech, but didn't typically have those pathways or those entry points.
2:12:17
So the investment that was made to be able to do that led them on that path.
2:12:21
Again, we don't see the investment in the adult workforce.
2:12:24
In this particular city, at this particular moment, rescaling upskilling options, the the the the general supportive services, remediation skills, advanced training connectivity.
2:12:34
The focus is on schools.
2:12:35
There's nothing wrong with that, but that's a long term strategy.
2:12:39
What's happening now?
2:12:40
We have talent that's available to us, and we need to invest in that.