Deutsche Bank, Wake Technical Community College, and Google Cloud are building a cloud talent pipeline in North Carolina

The world is facing a talent shortage, affecting more than 1 billion jobs by 2030¹.  While the talent shortage spans all digital skills, the battle for cloud talent is particularly acute - more than one third of tech leaders say professionals with cloud skills are the most challenging to find² . The state of North Carolina is experiencing this cloud skilling shortage first-hand with over 5,000 open cloud engineer roles in the past 12 months³ .  Deutsche Bank, a major North Carolina employer, is actively hiring for cybersecurity, data, and cloud computing talent.

To support the development of these skills, Google Cloud, Wake Technical Community College, and Deutsche Bank are forging an innovative partnership to help build the talent pipeline in North Carolina and to connect students with high-paying and durable local job opportunities. As part of the initiative, Google Cloud will provide Wake Tech with scholarships to Google Cloud Skills Boost for on-demand cloud learning, which includes access to three learning paths in associate cloud engineering, data analysis, and cloud digital leader. This training will build on the successful Cloud learning program that Google Cloud and Deutsche Bank put in place to train its own IT workforce. Wake Technical is well positioned to deliver this curriculum - it is the biggest community college in North Carolina, serving over 70,000 students each year and has long focused on jobs-centered training and community workforce needs.

"Wake Tech is excited to partner with Google and Deutsche Bank to help address the growing need for students and graduates with in-demand cloud-related skills.  Wake Tech's mission is to transform lives in Wake County through economic mobility and personal fulfillment.  Google and Deutsche Bank are excellent partners as we work together to provide Google Cloud Platform training and help students progress toward formal certification," John Wetsch, program director for Cloud Computing at Wake Tech.

To kick off this partnership, Google Cloud and Deutsche Bank representatives participated in the Wake Tech Community College IT-READY event on November 4th, where students were able to meet with Deutsche Bank business leaders and Google Cloud employees. Students had the opportunity to review scholarship, apprenticeship, and full-time jobs at both Deutsche Bank and Google Cloud.

“For Deutsche Bank it was a great opportunity to meet students, share our vision on the skills required in the Financial Industry as it transitions into the cloud, explore students’ aspirations and see how we could support them, “ said Eugeny Grebenshchikov, Deutsche Bank cloud learning engagement lead.

As part of the initiative, Deutsche Bank will provide mentorship and recruiting opportunities. All participating students will have a dedicated point of contact at Deutsche Bank through their learning journey to share Deutsche Bank events, highlight career and recruiting resources, and connect students to the broader technology community. In addition to skill development, the program will provide insight to students about life in a technology organization so they can hit the ground running when they enter the workforce.

“Talent will be one of the key factors in Deutsche Bank’s sustained transformation, particularly in areas like North Carolina where the bank’s technology hubs are. We’re thrilled to start this initiative with Wake Tech - the excitement at the event was just lovely. We can’t wait to see the progress the students make, and to extend the program to other education partners in the region” — David Jakob, Google Cloud Account Director for Deutsche Bank. 

Looking ahead, Google Cloud and Deutsche Bank plan to expand this innovative initiative across more North Carolina universities, with a focus on serving the research triangle, and will look for opportunities to replicate the program in other markets.

References:

1. _{World Economic Forum, We need a global reskilling revolution - here's why, January 2020} 

2. _{Robert Half, How to Hire for Cloud Roles Today, March 2022}

3. _{Labor market data from Lightcast, accessed November 2022}