Given the critical demand for local IT workers, might it be time to hire the retired? In this Tech Careers Q&A, Andrea J. Wooten, President and CEO of Green Thumb Inc., addresses issues facing the region's mature workers and helps you put age to work for you. Wooten has spearheaded strategic public/private partnerships -- most notably with the U.S. Department of Labor and Microsoft Corp.'s Skills 2000 initiative -- to provide information technology training to help fill America's IT employment gap.

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As the nation's oldest and largest provider of employment and training services for older and disadvantaged individuals, Green Thumb recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to establish three pilot sites where low-income individuals 55 and older can receive IT training, job counseling, placement and support services. The pilot programs are operating in Baltimore, Sacramento, Calif., and Austin, Texas. A program is being explored for Washington.

Q: Do you think that hiring mature workers to fill today's tech jobs is a viable solution to the local tech worker shortage?

Andrea Wooten: Absolutely! Mature workers (usually defined as ages 40+) include many people well past retirement who have the skills, work ethic and interest to enter this field as a second or third career. A variety of research shows that older workers are extremely committed to their work, are dependable and dedicated and have the necessary ability to excel in a tech career. Mature workers who take advantage of IT training opportunities are especially desirable employees since they bring wide experience to their new field.

A.W.: There are a variety of ways to recruit older and retired workers. Non-profit employment and training organizations like Green Thumb can create alliances with companies interested in recruiting mature workers, since we are involved in ongoing efforts to attract workers through job fairs and targeted newsletters and advertising.

Recruitment efforts that focus on the needs of both the worker and the company should first be addressed before searching the market for potential employees. Typically, older/retired workers may not be interested in a full 40-hour week. Flexible options that suit the needs of the corporation and the worker might include job sharing, work-at-home arrangements, part-time hours or flex time.

A.W.: Mature workers have varying qualifications and interests. In Baltimore, where Green Thumb is conducting pilot IT training for mature workers, we determined that the marketplace could use our trainees as Desktop Support Specialists, Technical Support Specialists, Help Desk Specialists and Network Administrators.

As part of a pilot project funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Green Thumb began offering IT training classes to low-income seniors on May 4. Productivity Point International, Green Thumb's Baltimore training partner, conducts morning and afternoon classes of 12 students each. Students receive 38 days of training to become Microsoft Certified Professionals. Courses include Introduction and Intermediate Windows 95, Introduction to Word and Excel 97, Introduction to Networking, Administering NT 4.0 and Core Technologies. Several lab days are included in the curriculum.

After completing the coursework, the trainees will be qualified to take Sylvan Prometric Certification exams (the official Microsoft certification exams). Green Thumb hopes to work with local private industry councils to expand training opportunities for other disadvantaged populations in the future.

A.W.: Green Thumb is currently working to replicate our tested training model in the District of Columbia metro region. Once we succeed in obtaining funding, our timeline for implementation will be immediate. Residents of the District will be given first priority for participation, by referral from the D.C. Department of Employment Services and other community-based employment and training organizations. This project will target training for individuals who have exhausted unemployment benefits, the long-term unemployed and individuals who have been downsized.

A.W.: Older workers must focus on their job skills and the positive attributes they bring to the workplace, including a strong work ethic, the ability to work as part of team and their willingness to learn and contribute. Technology changes so fast that one of the most important attributes of new entrants into the IT work force is an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Older workers must communicate their desire to work in an environment where continuous learning is critical to successful performance. They should also communicate how their experience in different or related occupations has prepared them to be valuable employees.

A.W.: Building on its highly successful pilot training projects, Green Thumb is prepared to design and deliver high-quality and time-tested IT training to meet local business and client needs. We expect to expand services to make training available to not only older workers, but also to dislocated workers, welfare participants and others who are unemployed and underemployed.