Recently, the San Diego Union-Tribune published a Commentary, written by Barbara Bry, San Diego City Council president pro tem, and Ji Shen, CEO of HoverCam, on “How San Diego is Growing Local Tech Talent.”
It read, in part, “San Diego is beginning to act locally by developing, sourcing, hiring and investing in its own tech talent. TechHire, a program administered by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, is aimed at increasing the number and diversity of qualified tech talent in San Diego.”
Through TechHire, a national initiative, businesses can hire candidates for project-specific-internships at no initial cost, due to the first 150 hours’ wages subsidized by 3rd-party employer-of-record services provided by SDWP, affording the employer time to assess interns’ knowledge, skills, and abilities for permanent employment.
TechHire San Diego is supported by both public- and private-sector partners—the City of San Diego, the San Diego Community College District, JP Morgan Chase, LinkedIn, and Microsoft—committed to placing 1,500 individuals underrepresented in the marketplace in technology jobs over the next 4 years.
Sylvia Contreras, KRA Program Manager, reports, “The San Diego Metro Region Career Centers are actively supporting the SDWP, our funding-partner, promoting the initiative, providing information to interested customers, and screening and referring qualified candidates. In fact, four jobseekers in our DEI Program are participating in internships. Each had already completed an NFAR Computer Training Course, so were ideal candidates for the TechHire San Diego program!”
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
