Today the TechPoint team announced a strategic partnership with the Markle Foundation, which will be a key element of its plan to inclusively grow the Indiana tech workforce by an additional 41,000 workers by 2030. 

“The Markle Foundation, through its Rework America Alliance, is doing phenomenal work to bring more people, especially people of color, into quality, in-demand jobs,” said TechPoint Executive Vice President of Talent Pathways and Programs Dennis Trinkle. “We will rely on their resources, tools and experience to help Indiana tech companies transition their hiring practices to meet new pathways for Hoosiers.” 

Under the partnership with TechPoint, Markle’s Rework America Alliance will provide resources and tools that will be used during and after TechPoint’s Mission41K kickoff conference on Tuesday, September 27, at the Indiana State Museum. Tools include skills-based talent management workshops for employers, online self-paced learning, job-specific hiring toolkits for key roles, and access to a tool for creating skills-based job postings, the Skillful Job Posting Generator. 

Markle’s Chief Program Delivery Officer Bill Turner will participate in a morning panel discussion at the kickoff conference. 

“At Markle, we’re excited to be working with the dedicated team at TechPoint to unlock opportunities in the tech industry for more people in Indiana,” Turner said. “By helping employers hire talented workers who are currently being overlooked based on outdated or biased hiring practices, tech companies can more effectively fill open roles and more Hoosiers can fulfill their potential.” 

What is Mission41K?

Mission41K is a collaborative movement designed to address the largest problem tech employers are facing today: finding, hiring and retaining qualified tech talent. It prioritizes skills-based hiring, provides more inclusive pathways into tech roles for significantly more people, and puts a focus on apprenticeships as a viable path to a successful and lucrative career in tech. 

The Rework America Alliance is a nationwide partnership of civil rights groups, nonprofits, private sector employers, labor unions, educators, and others, working to get people without a college degree into better-paying jobs with opportunities for career growth, particularly women, Black, and Latino workers.  It builds on and expands the work of Markle’s former initiative, Skillful, launched in Indiana in 2018. At the time, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb called the initiative a “game-changer” because of its focus on building upon workforce efforts already underway to connect people with the skills they need for higher-wage, high-demand jobs.   

Other organizations working with the Rework America Alliance, which range from major tech and retail giants to non-profits and training providers, include Ivy Tech Community College, Goodwill Industries International, Strada and One Ten, a national initiative which seeks to hire, promote and advance one million Black individuals who do not have a four-year degree into family-sustaining careers by 2030.  

The Indiana tech workforce has grown by 16.3 percent over the past decade, a 60 percent faster growth rate than seen across other sectors. More than 184,000 Hoosiers now work in tech and tech-enabled roles, filling one out of every 10 jobs in Indiana. Tech jobs offer high salaries, stability and strong advancement pathways. For every 10,000 new tech workers added to the Indiana workforce, $698 million in new annual wages are generated and $56.9 million in state and local tax revenues are gained.   

Growing the Indiana tech workforce is challenged by fewer people entering the workforce as older workers retire. Obstacles created by traditional hiring practices make the issue more difficult. Adopting skills-based hiring and creating inclusive pathways while encouraging young Hoosiers to consider a tech career are part of the strategic effort to accomplish Mission41K goals.    

“The good news is we’ve received a lot of support from the tech community, which has a history of collaboratively working to overcome challenges,” Trinkle said. “We have the right partners and a collective will to win this one, too.” 

Read more about skills-based hiring.

Learn more about Mission41K.