A shortage of tech workers? It's time for a "Rosie the Riveter" type of solution, says Neil Grunstra, CEO of Mindbank Consulting Group, a privately owned temporary placement firm for high-tech workers.

When the United States faced an across-the-board workforce shortage during World War II, women at home were trained to do the jobs men left behind. And that's the model for Vienna, Va.'s Mindbank, which is planning to launch a series of "boot camps" to train people - those on welfare, people who've been downsized, people who are smart or well-educated but not experienced - to be computer programmers and systems engineers.

The 90-day training program will, ideally, be funded by individual companies who pay Mindbank to do the training and then get the whole class three months later. Something the teacher won't focus on is calculus. Grunstra, 61, says useless prerequisites of higher math at colleges are a main reason more young people don't go into computer science.

Grunstra started Mindbank in 1986. He advertised for computer experts, built a list of 200 people he could trust and then went around the Beltway selling their skills. Now up to $22 million in revenues, Mindbank maintains a database of 25,000 workers proficient in a variety of computer languages and other skills - 80 percent of them in the Washington area. A customer might ask for five Java programmers for a three-month project, but sometimes the search is harder - say, 24 network engineers who can speak Russian.

Lately, Grunstra has found his database isn't deep enough, especially in COBOL programming, a necessary part of fixing Year 2000 glitches.

Mindbank members fall into several groups. Some are looking for full-time jobs but want to check out all their options. "They have an opportunity to try the company on," says Grunstra. "Otherwise it's a shotgun marriage." Some get sick of bureaucracy and bosses and want the flexibility to work for several months, then go on a two-month vacation. But most of these computer experts have found they can simply make more money as independent contractors than working full-time. Mindbank provides benefits and keeps some people on for years - the record is seven.

While many in the area have just begun worrying about the workforce shortage over the past couple of years, Grunstra has spent his career analyzing how tech employees work. With the boot camps, he hopes to add back to the pool.

"It's the first time in my life I've been in style," he says.