In 2018, a study called Milwaukee’s Tech Talent Impact revealed an estimated 31,000 tech jobs will be available across the region due to the amount of people retiring or changing careers within the next five years.
Tapping into certain demographics to add more technologists to Milwaukee’s labor market has been an ongoing challenge for area companies. Rather than approach the issue as a challenge, one Milwaukee company is viewing the demand for tech talent as an opportunity.
In 2019, Jennifer Ketz and Patricia Cabral-Mercado co-founded Lift Up MKE, a company focused on closing the gender gap in the tech industry by providing training, meetups and other services to female technologists who took a break from working in tech, but have decided to return to the industry.
“Our focus is how do we start to tap into that pipeline of women that have left technology and want to come back or women in technology that we want to retain,” Cabral-Mercado said.
With so many efforts being made by Milwaukee-area companies, organizations and individuals to create a tech ecosystem in the region, Ketz noticed no one was focusing on women who had left the tech industry, but wanted to return.
“It’s known that 56 percent of women leave technology when they’re at the pinnacle of their career,” Cabral-Mercado said. “(Ketz) was like 'What if we created a program that would help women relaunch their careers in technology?’”
The women being supported by the company either left the industry to try something different, raise a family, care for a loved one, or because they felt uncomfortable working in a male-dominated industry, said Cabral-Mercado.
Lift Up MKE started its first cohort earlier this month. The four-week program focuses on leadership skills, components of technology, preparing for job interviews and sprucing up a resume for not only women working in tech, but also entrepreneurs who want to be tech savvy.
“Programs have been around like this in the east coast and west coast, so why not the Midwest?” Cabral-Mercado said. “So we launched a hackathon. In February the idea was planted and by May, we had our first hackathon."
The hackathon’s 40 participants created seven solutions, one of which led to the launch of a startup.
Wisconsin companies Direct Supply, Kohl’s and American Family Insurance sponsored the inaugural hackathon and will sponsor Lift Up MKE's upcoming hackathon happening Feb. 22-23 at Ward 4 in Milwaukee, Cabral-Mercado said.
The company is accepting applications for its winter cohort and has plans to expand its services and programming to Madison and Chicago, Cabral-Mercado said.
