How to Get the Emerging Generation Interested in Tech Careers

Although today's 12 to 24-year-olds are extensive users of personal technology, they're apparently turning up their noses at the idea of pursuing "techie" careers, which is worrying some players in the high-tech industry. So says a survey by CEFRIO, a public-private technology transfer group based in Quebec, Canada.

An article in the Montreal Gazette quotes a researcher who suggests that this demographic, which CEFRIO refers to as Generation C (but which could also be classified as Millennials or Generation Y), is more dependent on technology than knowledgeable about it, which makes members of this age group feel like they really don't need tech skills in order to do tech-related things.

But will we really end up with a future tech skills gap? Will Millennials actually stop viewing technology as a desirable career option? That depends on how we communicate to this generation what kinds of tech career opportunities are out there.

If anything, Millennials have the potential to be better equipped than previous generations to comprehend the relationship between tech and business, because of how technology touches nearly every aspect of their everyday lives.

So the focus should be on teaching them to not take tech skills for granted. Instead of trying to promote technology careers as "cool" in themselves, we need to emphasize the extent to which Gen Y's daily activities, whether posting on Facebook or using online banking, require people with specialized technical abilities to work behind the scenes to make things run smoothly.