Meeting Tech Talent Challenges in Indiana

It’s a unique time for the Hoosier state, with wide-ranging transformation and opportunity on deck for tech talent. The next 24 months and beyond represent a critical time, with highly skilled talent needed to seize advantage of Indiana’s share of competitive jobs created by the $52.7 billion federal CHIPS Act. Potential Indiana HardTech and software innovative entrepreneurs, manufacturing and agribusiness advancements, and energy opportunities also figure high in the mix. Will talent respond and move to Indiana to stay?

Thus a vital focus across Indiana: scale up the technology talent pipeline and work to meet once-in-a-lifetime expected demand. As U.S. Senator Todd Young remarked at Purdue University, the CHIPS initiative is “the sort of economic and national security win that really only comes together once every couple of generations.”

Microelectronics Commons springing up from CHIPS funding already compete for highly skilled tech talent, including the new Intel Ohio Silicon Heartland development . That project is expected to create more than 3,000 new jobs, reverberating throughout the Midwest supply chain.

Here’s an Indiana growth snapshot of that sector: in the coming years, some 1,000 high-paying tech jobs are expected to emerge from both Skywater’s $1.8 billion expansion in West Lafayette and the high-impact microelectronics campus opening up in southern Indiana’s WestGate@Crane Technology Park. More growth and job creation are expected across the board in additional hardtech, manufacturing and defense-related growth. To accommodate this growth in workforce development, new specialty buildings and facilities are emerging from CADCAM to groundbreakings.

How will Indiana fare in setting up a jobs funnel to scale up for these and other opportunities? Clearly these issues rank high on considerations at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), as well as a host of local economic developers.

What do these jobs look like?

What do these jobs look like? Here’s a sample: microelectronics and semiconductor positions include electrical, computer and chemical engineers for design and production; highly skilled manufacturing technicians who operate complex technical machinery in a controlled environmental “clean room;” and quality assurance professionals who ensure that the tiny microcircuits meet high performance, quality, technical and safety standards.

Depending on the position and geographical location, these highly sought-after semiconductor manufacturing jobs pay on average in the range of $65,000 to $155,000.

A key challenge? Obviously, a finite talent pool exists. And time is not on the side of those who wait. Training new engineers and technicians will require critical time (upwards of three years for newly minted engineers). The CHIPS Act provides funding for partnerships between companies, universities, community colleges and high schools to create intern and training opportunities, including associate degree-levels and credentialing programs. Urgent steps already have materialized in Indiana among major and smaller universities and colleges to achieve this, and more is coming (including programs for Indiana high schools).

How can communities attract and retain talent?

While many Indiana residents will take up the upskilling challenge, more professionals are needed. Competition to attract these workers is fierce. As a 2023 DCI Talent Wars report notes, top talent is mobile, especially with the technology industry layoffs that characterized early 2023.

Filling the Talent Funnel

In scaling up talent development and attraction, the DCI report outlines key considerations for a talent funnel.  Key factors can “trigger” coveted talent to consider new locations.

A chief motivating “trigger”? Perhaps not surprisingly: quality of life and a capacity to be closer to family.

A key related driver here is experience. “Today’s visitor is tomorrow’s talent,” according to DCI, which elevates the importance of regional tourism. What are Indiana counties and regions communicating as attractive reasons to visit? A simple routine visit to family can yield big benefits in new awareness and a subsequent possible commitment to relocate to Indiana, especially in rural areas.

Repositioning via a total solar eclipse

While Indiana annually offers many popular events, seasonal attractions (can you say, “Indy 500” or “college championship basketball”?) and other tourism opportunities, one unique massive tourism opportunity beckons on Monday, April 8, 2024.  Beginning at 3:04. Eastern Daylight Time, a once-in-a-lifetime full-on total solar eclipse will arc across much of southern and central Indiana, including the WestGate tech park , the $2 billion NSWC Crane National Laboratory, university towns of Bloomington, Richmond, and Vincennes ,and more. Thousands are paying $15 a head to just to convene at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to watch the first Indy total eclipse in 819 years, where a NASA team will broadcast live commentary.

Thousands of hotel rooms are already booked across Indiana by science and eclipse aficionados. A substantial portion of these visitors will be first-time science tourism devotees to Indiana – what will they find? What will they experience? What will they take away – to come back?

Does your region, county or city have an “experience strategy” to promote and capture interest from these key influencers and potential tech talent relocators? That’s just one opportunity – many more are profiled at the Indiana Destination Development Corporation and Visit Indiana.

(Want more examples? Here’s a summary of Indiana regions already building eclipse opportunities from Inside Indiana Business – Nov. 7 2023)

Definitions of “quality of life”

While one person’s quality of life may be something else to another, research shows that tech talent professionals desire specific elements. DCI found three chief issues closely aligned with quality of life:

• Public safety
• Community stability
• General peace of mind

Surprising new trends included:

• Access to mental health support services
• Environmental and air quality
• Work/life balance

Subjective definitions of quality of life may exist, but here’s the key fact: new generations of workers will consider and set aside personal disruption to moving – if the new region offers lifestyle factors and amenities that make a difference.

Other critical factors to attract (or retain)?

• A lower cost of living
• Affordable housing
• The ability to live, work and play in one location without a long commute

Childcare issues

And as is required by the CHIPS Act and economic development attraction in general, childcare represents a must-have.  Access to quality healthcare and educational opportunities are also high up on the list.

Lifting above the clutter

Every Indiana city and county has assets that available tech talent may find attractive, some more than others. But one issue is clear. In a highly competitive market for talent, if your region or location doesn’t stand out in a message-saturated environment, you may not stand a chance.

As economic professionals well know, prospective talent is being wooed and pitched by all sorts of forces. Trying to work on attracting microelectronics engineers to southern Indiana? So is INTEL in central Ohio.  Want aerospace engineers to work on hypersonics technology? So is Boeing in Seattle. Competition is fierce.

Of course, economic development organizations, including the IEDC, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership,  the Northwest Indiana Forum , THRIVE West Central (Terre Haute), the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership,  Radius Indiana , Regional Opportunities Initiatives (ROI), and  Greater Lafayette offer incentives and quality of life information for relocation.

Radius Indiana (with funding from ROI) offers financial incentives for out-of-state defense professionals considering a move to southern Indiana. More information is available here: https://www.choosesouthernindiana.com/

Tell your story – in the right place, at the right time

Sometimes when people hear that they need to tell their story, eyes roll. It may seem “too soft” a solution.  But when decisions are in the process of being made, that can be the deal-clincher. People – including professionals in your prospective talent funnel – are inundated with thousands of messages every day.

What stands out? Information that people can personally relate to, whether it be a job opportunity, a solution for a family issue, or a possible capacity to elevate one’s personal quality of life.

How does talent find you?

DCI found six key influencers by rank:

• Internet research (regional, local websites – including local and state tourism)
• First-hand experience (an actual visit, for whatever reason)
• Word of mouth (from a trusted source or influencer)
• Social media (Facebook leads at 62%, followed by YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn)
• Independent rankings
• Media coverage

As are evident in many regions, all of these require a proactive commitment to communicate effectively, which means crafting and executing relevant marketing and PR strategies (especially in the digital realm) to position your region and lift above the clutter.

Here’s one additional unique factor as Indiana moves into 2024: DCI found that many “tech workers are more likely to relocate in light of recent layoffs.” Many regions and counties are on the move to attract top talent and create lasting change.

What about tech talent and workforce in your region?

Drawing on more than two decades of award-winning experience, MEK creates effective strategies and tactics to position and advance regions, counties and cities.

By Michael Snyder, a long-time economic development consultant and Managing Principal of MEK.