Tech Jobs for All? Exploring the Promise & Pitfalls of Technology Training in the United States

In the past few years, training programs promising on-ramps to high-paying tech jobs have sprung up across the country, drawing attention from the media, government leaders, and the general public. The rapid growth of these new models for tech training – often designed to fill the projected growth in information and communication technology (ICT) jobs – raises questions about how best to classify and understand these programs and their role and value in workforce development more generally.

This report examines the reasons for the tech training hype and proposes a taxonomy of training programs, cataloging best practices from each program type. The report also identifies challenges that organizations, employers, and the government will need to address to ensure these expanding programs accurately meet market demand and look to the future of tech training more generally.