MAG News

As technology trends evolve, the demand for cloud data storage makes cloud computing one of the hottest industries out there with a high demand for skilled professionals. In 2020 alone, more than 95,000 unique job postings in Arizona required some skills in cloud computing.

“In Arizona, 12 percent of unique job postings require skills in cloud computing,” said Kolu Wilson, Workforce Administrator for the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) Office of Economic Opportunity.

Cloud computing refers to delivery of various services through the internet, including data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. Cloud-based storage makes it possible to save files to a remote database and retrieve them on demand, and represents a growing market for the tech industry.

With this increased demand for skilled cloud computing workers in Arizona, the ACA and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have partnered in a collaborative initiative to train and certify 5,000 Arizona students by June 2022 for cloud computing careers. During a presentation to the Maricopa Association of Governments Economic Development Committee, the agencies said this public-private partnership shows commitment to long-term investments in technical skills training for Arizonans.

“Our collaboration with the state of Arizona is designed to meet learners where they are, whether they are looking to reskill, pursue a technical career at a higher education institution, or learn new tech skills at their high school,” said Teresa Carlson, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector at AWS.  “We are thrilled to help Arizonans develop the right skills to connect to in-demand tech jobs here in the Grand Canyon state,” Carlson added.

 “Closing the skills gap and ensuring Arizonans are well equipped to pursue tech job opportunities remains a top priority for our state, and we’re thrilled to work with AWS to advance that mission,” said ACA President & CEO Sandra Watson. By partnering with the Arizona Department of Education, ARIZONA@WORK, colleges and universities throughout the region, ACA and AWS are working to create programs that will enhance students’ educational studies and talents and provide them the opportunity to succeed and thrive once they enter Arizona’s workforce.

Community colleges, universities and high schools can participate in the program by offering AWS Academy courses at their institution and/or self-paced online training courses and labs via the AWS Educate program.  For more information on how educational institutions or students can become involved with the training programs, visit https://www.azcommerce.com/aws/.