Getting Kansas City to the last mile of tech workforce development requires a bridge (and together we’re building it)

Editor’s note: The perspectives expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Kara Lowe is president and CEO of KC Tech Council.

The greater Kansas City region faces a sizable workforce challenge; there currently are more tech-focused jobs in the region than local job candidates to fill the openings. At present, employers are seeking more than 4,000 candidates to fill open tech jobs in the region. Willing training suppliers promise programs in the degreed and nondegreed learning space, but eager candidates have often been left unconnected to a next step, or a direct bridge to employment. From both an employer and candidate perspective, a crisis continues to emerge in this “last mile” of tech workforce development.

But how can employers unite and partner with learning institutions at all levels to make Greater Kansas City a destination for technology professionals and the region a hub for innovation?

Whether driven by the economic mobility of one person, a measurable collective economic impact to our region, or both, KC Tech Council (KCTC) is building a coalition of supporters embarking on a journey to collect data and insights in support of an employer-led local talent pipeline. KC Techbridge, funded through a recently awarded Kauffman Foundation Collective Impact grant, empowers employers to play a larger role in the technology workforce ecosystem to ensure candidates are job-ready with relevant core and technical skills, experiences and/or certificates that are broadly industry-recognized. 

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The two-part (planning, then implementation) project starts with building a better understanding around four important questions:

• How many individuals are currently building or have the required skills and abilities for KC tech jobs for today and for the future?
• During the points of transition between learning, working and advancing careers, is there clarity in how to navigate to the next step in the journey?
• What barriers exist in informing/responding to employer needs?
• What resources might be required to establish more connectivity across our established ecosystem? How could that set Kansas City apart as a region saturated by a predictable and sustainable tech talent pipeline?

The ambitious goal of KC Techbridge is to create an environment where 100% of tech jobs in Kansas City are filled using resources from the Greater Kansas City area.

This effort extends well beyond the technology industry into the general business community, with employers needing to better harness the use of digital tools to drive efficiency, profitability and more. According to KCTC research, more than 17,000 open tech jobs were posted in 2023, which was considered a “soft year” for this type of hiring in the region — and across the nation. Two- and four-year degreed colleges and universities in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska only graduated a combined 8,800 students with computer science degrees. 

This shortfall of the “traditional talent pipeline” is not new and helped prompt the genesis of several nondegreed technology training programs in the region, with most aimed to reskill adult learners in courses relevant to technology-focused jobs. These programs have the ability to actively close the deficit between open jobs and candidates, but employers have not sourced candidates from this pool at the rate needed to fulfill demand.

With tech jobs anticipated to grow as much as 300% in cybersecurity and data analytics alone over the next decade, the dilemma only grows. To properly address this, applying an employer’s lens to the training landscape allows for better assessment, determination and solutions to barriers in transitions from learner to candidate to employee.

Kara Lowe, KC Tech Council, networks with stakeholders and partners during a KC TechBridge kickoff event at CPKC Stadium; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

In a locally focused effort, KC Techbridge seeks ways to effectively address the fragmented and often inconsistent pathways between high school, postsecondary education and workforce training by implementing a standardized, industry-driven method of navigating and endorsing workforce training programs at critical transitional stages. The initiative plans to prepare candidates for the competitive rigor of the hiring process, improving both skill acquisition and workforce readiness and, importantly, increase the clarity and accessibility for employers to better support vital talent programs and increase volume of hiring from these programs to meet specific employer demands.

All members of the local business community – from startups to large corporations – can apply four key strategies to invest in the talent pipeline over the long term:

• Grow using K-12 and postsecondary educational opportunities.
• Retain local talent through meaningful career development.
• Attract qualified professionals from outside the region.
• Unlock talent from pools that have been left out of the traditional process.

KCTC takes seriously the responsibility to serve as the bridge between the employer and professional development landscape, allowing training partners to engage with a larger pool of tech employers and allowing more tech employers and, importantly, “nontech” companies with tech workforce opportunities, to have access to beneficial resources that might have otherwise been unknown in the hiring processes. This includes an intentional focus on underrepresented communities.

The corporate, civic, nonprofit and education communities each contribute greatly to this purpose, but the work cannot exist in a vacuum and be successful. 

Unified, collective efforts must be directed toward developing a sustainable, inclusive, equitable and prosperous tech workforce in Kansas City and the surrounding metro area. KC Techbridge already won the support of 200-plus members, companies and organizations dedicated to driving the local tech industry forward, and the collective continues to grow. 

Trust and focus remain critical among the stakeholders to achieving a successful outcome. This includes regular, transparent updates on both the successes and setbacks, with honesty meant to keep constituents focused on the big picture.

Most tech workforce development initiatives have led from the candidate forward, solving for barriers to entry. This is essential, important work, but KC Techbridge’s proposed approach intentionally shifts the model to applying retrograde analysis to start from the successful outcome: a gainfully employed tech worker and solve for barriers in the transition from learner to candidate to employee.

The talent supply chain is sorely missing key input from the employer, and falling far short of the broad employer engagement necessary to scale. KC Techbridge relies heavily on continuous, thorough input from employers that facilitates a natural buy-in and vested interest in successful outcomes.

While preparation started months ago, the Collective Impact Planning Grant offers a runway to meaningfully convene the critical elements of an employer-led program that can develop into a critical driver of innovation that effectively utilizes future-focused data to guide employer investment, training program design, learner navigation and more. This can offer a scalable, replicable model for other regions and sectors to follow.

Stimulating the last mile can allow local businesses to challenge the talent demand gap while simultaneously building a trusted talent pool for employers and increasing success for job candidates, from the hiring process through to professional development and achievement.

Kara Lowe serves as president and CEO of KC Tech Council, a membership organization that serves as the shared voice of Kansas City’s tech industry. With nearly 200 member companies spanning from startup to enterprise, KC Tech Council advocates for public policy that helps the tech industry grow, champions meaningful workforce development programs to create a competitive tech talent pipeline, and brings the leaders of the tech industry together to achieve its mission of creating the Midwest’s most competitive tech hub. 

Lowe currently serves on the Workforce Development board for KU Edwards Campus and the Board of Directors of the Tech Councils of North America (TECNA).