Press Release | May 01, 2019

CTA Signs White House Pledge, Members Will Add Almost 400,000 Worker Training Opportunities

by 
Bronwyn Flores

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and 42 of its member companies today joined the Trump administration’s Pledge to America’s Workers, promising to add 392,214 new U.S. worker training opportunities over the next five years.

“We should always prioritize investment in our greatest asset, the American worker, and ensure that our workforce remains the greatest in the world,” said Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President. “We thank CTA and all of the members who are taking that step today by signing the White House Pledge to the American Worker.”

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA, signed the Pledge during a White House meeting with administration officials and 31 leaders from the U.S. consumer technology sector.

“We now have 500,000 high-tech jobs open here in the U.S. – but we don’t have enough workers with the skills needed to fill all these jobs,” said Shapiro. “If we want to maintain our nation’s global leadership as a tech innovator and keep these jobs in America, we must help our workers develop the skills to succeed throughout their careers. I’m proud to see our industry step up to ensure American workers get the training they need – both for today’s job market and the rapidly-evolving future of work.”

“As Bosch rapidly evolves as an Internet of Things (IoT) company, we’re transforming our workforce from a manufacturing organization to an IoT organization,” said Mike Mansuetti, president, Bosch in North America. “This transformation requires a commitment to the education and training of our associates. These are the people who will enable our innovation and fuel our company’s growth and competitiveness. They are the key to our future.”

CTA’s contributing member companies include:

  • A&K Robotics
  • Alarm.com
  • American Automation & Communications Inc.
  • Audio Warehouse
  • Bjorn's Audio Video
  • BloomBoard Inc.
  • BlueSalve Partners
  • Bosch
  • Canon U.S.A. Inc.
  • Crestron Electronics
  • Digital Creative Institute
  • eForCity Corp.
  • Founders First Capital Partners LLC
  • Franklin Apprenticeships
  • FulTech Solutions Inc.
  • Future Ready Solutions
  • Hedgehog Technology Services
  • HiberSense Inc.
  • Humetrix
  • InstallerNet Inc.
  • Invisionate
  • LED Systems LLC
  • Living in Digital Times
  • Logic Integration
  • LOOK.education
  • Phone2Action
  • Postmates
  • Pribatis Inc.
  • ROYBI
  • Senclo Inc.
  • Sony Electronics, Inc. North America  
  • Sprint
  • Starpower
  • TargetPath LLC
  • TeamPeople
  • Titan Power LLC
  • T-Mobile
  • T-ROC
  • Up Sonder
  • URC
  • USAA
  • Voxx International
The technology sector accounts for 18.2 million jobs and 12% of U.S. GDP and is the fastest-growing part of the American economy. But there aren’t enough skilled workers to fill the growing number of job openings in emerging technology sectors including 5G, AI and cloud computing. According to CTA’s Future of Work survey, tech executives report that in the next five years, they will struggle to fill jobs for software development, data analytics and engineering.

 

Since President Trump announced the Pledge in July 2018, more than 50 CTA members – including previous signatories Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy, Deloitte, Ford, HP, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Toyota, VISA and Walmart – have committed more than two million new opportunities, totaling almost one-third of total pledges. CTA is continuing to accept additional pledges. Click here to learn more.