CompTIA Newsroom

Tech industry association teams with Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development

Oklahoma City – Up to 100 Oklahomans who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic will build their technical and business skills as a prelude to new careers in the tech field through a new program from the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development and CompTIA, the leading nonprofit association for the tech industry.

The program will provide 100 dislocated workers around the state with free online training, professional certification opportunities and job placement assistance for new careers in technology. The state established the program using COVID-19 related dislocated worker funds from the U.S. Department of Labor.

“This program offers Oklahomans who lost their job due to circumstances beyond their control an opportunity to re-enter the workforce in a completely new industry or occupation,” said Don Morris, executive director of the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development. “For some, this means the ability to come out of this terrible situation in better place than they began.”

Central to the program is CompTIA Custom Training’s mentored learning regimen. This flexible program allows students to learn at their own speed, level and convenience, with the support of experienced instructors at every step of the learning process.

“We recognize that learning is very individual, which is why engagement with our instructors, who are experts in their fields with years of real-world experience, is a vital part of the program,” said Mark Plunkett, senior director, global training operations and business development, with CompTIA Custom Training. “CompTIA mentored learning delivers the right balance of self-paced learning and classroom-based courses and labs.”

The training will focus initially on CompTIA A+, a professional certification that validates core skills and abilities in areas such as cybersecurity, data backup, recovery and storage, device configuration, networking, operating systems, technical support, and troubleshooting.

“CompTIA A+ is the industry standard for launching a tech career in today’s digital world,” said Jason Mangold, global workforce development manager at CompTIA. “Hiring managers know that a tech pro who is CompTIA A+ certified is ready to be a contributing team member on day one.”

The demand for help desk and technical support professionals remains strong in many markets and industries across the state.

More than 1,200 openings for tech support positions were advertised in job postings by Oklahoma employers during the first six months of 2020, according to CompTIA’s analysis of Labor Insight™ data from Burning Glass Technologies. Tech support jobs were available in a variety of industries, including aerospace, communications, consulting, education, finance, government, healthcare, and retail.      

Participants in the Oklahoma program will have the option of continuing their training with CompTIA Network+, which focuses on configuring, managing and troubleshooting networks, and CompTIA Security+, which validates core cybersecurity skills and provides a springboard to more advanced cybersecurity jobs.

Interested Oklahomans can visit the Oklahoma Works website to learn more about this program and enrollment opportunities.

CompTIA offers best-in-class, instructor-led training, both on-site and in a virtual environment, to bolster the workforce development initiatives of corporations, academic institutions, government entities, and nonprofit organizations. Visit CompTIA Custom Training for more information.

CompTIA is also the global leader in vendor-neutral technical certifications in skills ranging from IT support and networking to cybersecurity and cloud computing. Nearly 2.7 million CompTIA certifications have been awarded to technology professionals in 232 countries.

About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5.2 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the more than 75 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce.

About The Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development (OOWD)
The Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce that works to align resources, education, training and job opportunities to build the state’s workforce. Under the direction of the Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development, Oklahoma Works aims to ensure all Oklahomans have the skills and education necessary to enter and advance in rewarding careers and Oklahoma businesses have the talented workforce they need to succeed.

Contact:

Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
630-678-8468
sostrowski@comptia.org­