The Siemens Foundation – in collaboration with Siemens Building Technologies and the Association of Controls Professionals (ACP) – is launching a new workforce training program to fill skilled positions in the intelligent buildings industry. The training programs will be aligned with new, non-proprietary industry certifications under development by ACP. The program will focus on reaching traditionally under served or under represented student communities and providing them the opportunity to excel in a software-driven field. The Foundation plans to invest more than $1.6 million in the workforce training program over a three-year period with the first launch in DeKalb County in metro Atlanta this year.
“Operating and maintaining today’s smart building systems requires skilled, technology-minded professionals, but companies like Siemens continue to have difficulty in finding skilled applicants for these open positions,” said Dave Hopping, CEO of Siemens Building Technologies division, Americas. “The development of career pathways from K-12 through community college, leading to high-quality certification, will help address this gap and grow the diversity of individuals who have an opportunity to receive training, compete for these software-driven jobs and earn a competitive salary.”
The intelligent buildings workforce training program is a part of the Siemens Foundation’s new SPARKS (STEM Partnerships to Advance Real-World Knowledge and Skills) Initiative, which seeks to support training programs in areas such as smart infrastructure, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.
“A career focused on how to make buildings smarter and more efficient is truly one of purpose, giving students the opportunity to pursue work in a field that will play a significant role in reducing emissions and making our world more sustainable for years to come,” said Brian Lovell, president of ACP. “There are tens of thousands of jobs in the building automation field open today and our program’s mission is to provide the next-generation workforce with the skills and opportunity to fill these jobs and move the industry, and our world, forward.”