Program Will Provide the Most Relevant and Critical Technology Courses and Assessments for Unemployed Americans

SALT LAKE CITY – Pluralsight, a global leader in online learning for technology professionals, today announced the launch of its TechHire course offering, which provides free on-demand technology skills training for unemployed Americans across the nation. An initiative launched by the White House earlier this year, TechHire aims to empower unemployed, job-seeking Americans to get the programming and IT skills they need to begin and sustain well-paying careers in technology. Pluralsight’s $20 million in-kind philanthropic donation will provide access to 50 courses from Pluralsight’s expert-authored library for those that qualify.

“Pluralsight is thrilled to partner with the White House to help unemployed Americans land a career in technology,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “Online training is a great resource for people to learn at their own pace, making it a real possibility for those looking to master key technology skills in a rapidly growing job sector.”

Today there are more than half a million unfilled jobs in IT technology across all sectors of the economy. These jobs make up about 12 percent of the approximately 5 million job openings in the U.S., making IT the largest occupational category for available jobs right now.

Pluralsight will group the 50 courses into five different tracks: job-hunting skills, general technology basics, data skills, front-end web application development and IT operations. The tracks were designed so individuals can customize their learning experience and attain their learning goals, serving both individuals who have no background in tech and those seeking to skill up.

Dividing the courses into tracks makes them more digestible and helps prevent participants from feeling overwhelmed, while providing freedom to move laterally between the classes. Two of the tracks – job-hunting skills and general technology courses – require little to none prerequisite knowledge and were specifically designed to be a foundation for anyone looking for a job. The specific tech industry tracks were designed to provide the needed vocabulary and skills for entry-level positions within the tech verticals, such as IT operations, hardware trouble-shooters, data analysts, and front-end programmers and designers.

Pluralsight compared data from its network to data compiled by job market analytics company Burning Glass to help design this program and decide on the courses that would be most useful for participants. It also provided insights into the barometer of which job skills are most desired in today’s market.

To learn more about Pluralsight’s TechHire program visit https://learn.pluralsight.com/offers/tech-hire-signup.