With nearly 8,000 open positions, Arizona faces a growing shortage of cybersecurity professionals. In order to address this growing shortage, businesses must accept a stronger role engaging with education and training providers to build the region’s talent pipeline. Three years ago, the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation launched a Cybersecurity Workforce Collaborative comprised of employers who have cybersecurity as a key function of their business.

Anyone who thinks this is an easy time for someone to navigate early adulthood is sorely mistaken. Young people face an unclear future. In the coming years AI systems will destroy and create entire industries and an end to scarcity will erode the basic working model. Is this cause for major concern?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2020, there will be 1 million more computing jobs than workers to fill them. Demand for jobs in data science alone has grown 300 percent over the last four years. Tech skills like cloud computing and user interface design top the list of the most in-demand skills.  It’s a challenge that stems, in part, from the well-documented divide between higher education and the world of work. And the challenge is only accelerating as the shelf life of skills shrinks.