Silicon Valley Young People Just Say No’ To High-Tech Careers.

Two-thirds of Silicon Valley students in grades 8 and 11 do not plan to pursue high-technology careers, according to a survey of 2,500 local students that is part of a study released by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney and Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network. Of students not planning on technology careers, a substantial number have negative perceptions of these professions: 39 percent said that high-tech careers are uninteresting; 25 percent said these jobs are intimidating.

The student-survey conducted in late 2000 is part of the 2002 Workforce Study: Connecting Today’s Youth with Tomorrow’s Technology Careers, which calls for stronger linkages between students and high-tech career opportunities, especially among Hispanic students and female students.

Fully developing its homegrown pool of high-tech talent could be one way for Silicon Valley to address its persistent high-tech “workforce gap.” The study indicates that the workforce gap-which includes unfilled positions, people actively recruited from outside of the Bay Area and workers who must commute to work from areas outside of the Valley-grew to almost 40 percent of the high-tech sector’s labor demand during the boom of the late 1990s. Even in 2001, in the midst of the recent economic downturn, the workforce gap equaled 25 percent of the labor market demand.

The need for Silicon Valley businesses to look beyond the Valley for high-tech workers costs local firms an estimated $2-3 billion annually in hiring expenses, decreased productivity, delayed product launches, lost sales, salary premiums, and turnover costs, according to the study. While these costs have fallen significantly from October 2000 when they were estimated at $6-7 billion, they remain a significant issue for the region. In addition, the shortage of local high-tech labor contributes to the various environmental, infrastructure and social impacts that result from workers having to drive long distances to jobs in the Valley.

“We need to increase students’ affinity for high-tech careers in order to both prevent future workforce shortages in the Valley and prepare today’s youth to be full participants in the region’s economic future,” said Praveen Madan, principal in A.T. Kearney’s Silicon Valley office and leader of the 2002 Workforce Study. “Simply providing access to technology — something 99 percent of the students’ surveyed already say they have — is clearly not enough. Businesses, civic leaders and educators must work to increase students’ exposure to and understanding of technology professions.”

“The 2002 Workforce Study emphasizes that a cooperative regional effort is needed to expand the social networks that connect young people with the Silicon Valley jobs of tomorrow,” said Rebecca Guerra, vice president, worldwide human resources at Riverstone Networks and a member of the Joint Venture Board of Directors. “We must ensure that young people of all backgrounds have access to accurate, reliable information on high-tech careers and have relationships with role models and other adults who can provide valuable career-related guidance.”

Other key findings from the study:

— Awareness of high-tech careers is lower among Hispanic students than among their peers. Sixty-one percent of Hispanic students reported having some understanding of two or more high-tech professions, compared with 80 percent of African American students, 79 percent of Asian students and 76 percent of White students.

— There is a gender gap concerning interest in and awareness of technology careers. Females were only about half as likely as males (23 percent vs. 42 percent) to report wanting to pursue a high-tech career. In addition, 78 percent of male students said they were familiar with at least two high-tech professions, compared with only 68 percent of female students.

— A student’s social network can have a significant impact on his/her career choice. Students whose parents are both in high-tech careers are more likely to be interested in technology careers themselves. In addition, more than three-quarters of students (83 percent) rely on personal connections for career-related information and guidance, although students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to do so.

— The mass media are a major source of career-related information for young people. Two-thirds of students reported that they obtain career information from mass media (television, the Internet, books, magazines, etc.), which often portray technology workers in an unflattering and unrealistic light.

For more information at http://www.eds.com