Published by isobel.regan@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 20.04.2023 
Since 2003, Revature has dedicated itself to creating pathways into well-paying tech jobs for people of all backgrounds. That mission is particularly relevant now, as the tech industry is at a turning point. An ongoing talent shortage is requiring organizations to get creative with their hiring techniques. Demand for emerging tech talent has surged more than 200% since 2016, while the global tech workforce is expected to have a shortage of 4.3 million workers by 2030.
And yet, to call this shortage a skills gap—as many do—is misleading. To start, talent is available. Each year, higher education institutions produce about 4 million graduates while more than 40% of recent college grads are unemployed or underemployed. The true gap is one of opportunity. At the same time, the skills required of tech workers change rapidly. Companies may find the talent they need today, but they’ll likely need different skills tomorrow.
To address this opportunity gap, employers must build bridges between available workers and the job pipeline. At Revature, helping build those bridges has been our mission from day one. In recent years, we have accelerated our efforts with a particular emphasis on diversity and inclusion. That’s why being named a finalist for the Global Business Tech Awards in the category of Best Tech Recruiter is so meaningful.
A little more background: Revature is the largest employer of emerging technology talent in the U.S., best known for our award-winning curriculum and flexible “hire-train-deploy model.” We recruit young professionals, including those from non-Computer Science schools and backgrounds, looking to build their careers in tech and train them to fit the hiring qualifications of the businesses that need them. This approach shortens the hiring process, broadens the talent pool, improves diversity, and proves more cost-effective than other options. We recently built on this foundation by adding Talent Enablement as a Service (TEaaS) to our solution set, for which we provide continuous training to employees even after they are hired.
Diversity is baked into our approach. Our recruiting model is measurably more equitable than traditional models used by the technology industry at large. Of the 12,000 software engineers Revature has trained, more than 65% came from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, one-third of our software engineers are first-generation college graduates. But there is more work to do. For example, Black professionals make up just 7% of the tech workforce. To raise these numbers, we are building partnerships and networks with organizations that share our mission of breaking down barriers in the tech industry, including:
- Blacks United in Leading Technology International, the largest nonprofit professional organization for Black people in tech.
- the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community.
- and OneTen, a coalition designed to hire and advance Black Americans without four-year degrees into family sustaining careers.
In August 2022, we also donated $25,000 to HITEC’s scholarship funds. These partnerships were foundational to our entry into the Global Business Tech Awards. Being named a finalist is exciting for this reason. It’s always validating to be recognized for something you’ve worked hard for. But being recognized for work that is leveling the playing field for one of the most exciting industries and making a tangible difference in people’s lives is particularly rewarding.
As a company, we’ve continued to challenge ourselves and evolve in other ways too. For example, in recent years, we:
- Developed a PACE program with the University of Arizona Global Campus, which offers candidates with an associate’s degree both a paid training program, pathways to tech job openings, and support (including tuition assistance) for completing their bachelor’s degree with UAGC.
- Expanded to the UK, with plans to establish a non-graduate training pathway to connect untapped talent that currently exists amongst A-level and T-level candidates with in-demand positions across the UK market.
- Become a GSA-approved vendor, offering trainees a pathway to government work.
- Expanded our Salesforce partnership, becoming the first authorized training partner for its B2B Commerce Cloud.
- Were named the 2022 Pega Training Partner of the Year.
- And partnered with Appian, ServiceNow, and Outsystems.
The Salesforce partnership is particularly notable, as Salesforce was drawn to Revature in part because of its commitment to diversity. Salesforce projects are expected to create 4.2 million jobs and $1.2 trillion in new business by 2024. That’s a huge opportunity. Our aim is to serve as the bridge between those jobs and diverse candidates. Still, it’s a combination of all these efforts that have made us a leader in the field of tech recruiting and a finalist for the Global Tech Business Awards.
Already, Revature trained over 12,000 software engineers in 55 technical disciplines, recruited talent from 700 universities, and deployed them to Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, and top systems integrators around the world. The stats speak for themselves: 96% of Revature trainees get hired after completing training; we boast 95% retention after two years; and 90% of Revature alumni say the company had a positive impact on their careers.
In the wake of our recent efforts, those numbers are only going to grow. It would be thrilling to win the Global Business Tech Award for Best Tech Recruiter. But no matter what, we are going to keep working towards knocking down barriers to careers in tech and closing the opportunity gap for underrepresented groups.
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