U.S. to Train Workers for Computer Jobs

The Clinton administration will announce today a broad and unique federal effort to help train more computer workers, responding to concerns from economists and business leaders that U.S. companies have a critical shortage of skilled technology workers. The initiatives, which include millions of dollars in grants to fund educational programs, the creation of a nationwide job bank on the Internet and a campaign to glamorize computer-related professions, come as a new survey shows that one in 10 information technology jobs in the U.S. is unfilled. The study, conducted for an industry group by Virginia Tech and scheduled for release today, estimated that 346,000 computer programmer and systems analyst jobs are vacant in U.S. firms with more than 100 employees. The Labor Department today plans to announce a $3-million grant program to fund training efforts by schools, businesses and local governments. The department also will commit to spending $8 million to create the online job bank. The Commerce Department has plans to spend $17 million to bring technology resources to poor people. Administration officials said the funding will come from existing agency budgets.