Northwest Arkansas will likely need to fill around 7,500 IT-related jobs – from data scientists to computer systems analysts to web developers – over the next 10 years, according to data provided by the Northwest Arkansas Council.

Why is this important: Almost every industry needs a mix of tech people, and community leaders want to provide a talent pool from here to NWA, Council COO Mike Harvey, and Joe Rollins, who specializes in developing the consulting workforce, tell Axios.

Inventory: At the end of October, the second job postings at NWA were for software developers.

• And IT jobs had the most openings per program, followed by Business, then Engineering with Information Technology at No.7.

What is happening: The Northwest Arkansas Council works with educational institutions to help develop training programs.

• Many entry-level technical positions can be filled by people with skills in areas like coding that don’t necessarily need college degrees, but some mid-level and senior-level positions may require a bachelor’s degree or even a graduate degree.
• That’s why meeting demand means working with all levels – high schools, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, Northwest Technical Institute, U of A, etc.

What they say : Rollins says the board has partnered with the Arkansas Center for Data Sciences to develop information technology apprenticeships for front-end and back-end web developers, full-stack developers, data analytics, cybersecurity and robotic process automation.

• “I think the roster is capable. We can build it. At the moment we still have to ask a lot of questions about what is needed,” said Rollins.

Yes, but: Even though NWA is working quickly to provide more training opportunities at all levels, companies still need to recruit a workforce from outside the region to meet demand.

• It’s part of the Northwest Arkansas Council’s motivation to actively try to persuade and entice people from big cities to move here, Harvey says.

Go further: Visit careersnwa.com to view job openings.