Ginni Rometty, the chief executive officer of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), has revealed that the tech giant is planning to recruit an extra 2,000 military veterans in the coming four years. IBM has previously revealed that it will hire around 25,000 workers from the United States by 2020. Most of the new positions will not require candidates to possess a college degree earned in four years.
“The men and women who have served in our country’s armed forces have unique talents and skill sets that make them a natural fit for some of the technology industry’s most exciting fields,”said IBM’s human resources senior vice president Diane Gherson in a statement.
New collar jobs
Besides offering veterans job opportunities, IBM is also involved in a program that aims at imparting new job skills to the former military personnel. This includes a program where veterans are trained on the use of software that is commonly found in the law enforcement and defense sectors. The program has recently been expanded to cover the entire country. Recent sessions have been held in Las Vegas, Tampa and Pittsburgh. Future sessions are planned for Houston, Fort Drum and Philadelphia.
After getting the certification in software skills that are suited for national security and cybersecurity industries from IBM, the veterans are then aided in getting career opportunities through a placement service offered by a nonprofit that caters exclusively to veterans. Currently, over 500 veterans have received training in using i2 Analysts’ Notebook and IBM plans to increase access to the program to many more veterans.
White House meet
IBM’s announcement was made during a White House meeting Rometty held with business leaders, Angela Merkel the German Chancellor and President Donald Trump. The chief executive of IBM is a Presidential Strategic Advisory Forum member.
During the same meeting, Rometty also talked about her company’s efforts to close the skills gap that exists in the United States especially in the technology sector. IBM initiated P-Tech schools which puts high school students on the path to careers in the tech sector.
On Friday shares of International Business Machines Corp fell by 0.90% to close the day at $175.65.
