Celebrating Our Technology Superstars This Techies Day

Technology sits at the center of all of our lives. It makes us more productive at work and entertained at home. It helps us keep in touch with family and friends, no matter where they are in the world. It even plays a major role in our health and wellbeing. But often those who work so hard to design, build, manage, and operate this vital technology are looked down upon as nerds or geeks, or simply overlooked. The result? Fewer kids are deciding to study tech-related subjects and the industry is suffering a growing skills crisis.

That’s why we should all celebrate Techies Day on 3 October. It’s an opportunity to thank technology professionals everywhere for their vital contribution to society, and encourage more of our youngsters into the industry. Trend Micro for one is hugely proud of the work our very own in-house techies do every day. We quite literally wouldn’t be the company we are today without them.

Unsung heroes

Techies Day was founded all the way back in 1999 by technology site CNET and industry career site Techies.com. The annual event was conceived of as a way to celebrate the unsung heroes of our economy, who work tirelessly to keep organisations across the nation online and ready for business. From public recognition programs to private corporate celebrations, grass roots activities and school outreach – the emphasis is on highlighting the great work technology pros do and encouraging more students to consider a career in the industry.

In cybersecurity the problem of skills shortages is, if anything, more acute than elsewhere in the technology industry. More than 209,000 security jobs in the US are currently unfilled with demand expected to grow by more than 50% through 2018, according to Bureau of Labor stats analysed by Stanford University. A study by 451 Research which polled 1,000 security professionals in the US and EMEA earlier this year highlighted exactly why this is such a concern. Staff expertise (34%) and inadequate staffing (26%) were given as major reasons why managers could not implement their desired security projects.

We desperately need more youngsters to explore technology, and cyber security, as a possible career choice. But to do this we need to foreground the hugely important work technology professionals do in our country and dispel any misconceptions of techies as geeks. Salaries are high, the work is varied and incredibly rewarding, and there are loads of jobs out there. We need to drive home this message, and what better time to do it than on Techies Day?

The lifeblood of Trend Micro

Like many information security companies, Trend Micro owes a huge debt to the techies working for us. Here in the US, we have more than a quarter of our staff work on the technology side of the business with many more in regions around the world. From our more than 1,200 global team of threat researchers – who work tirelessly to discover where the next major cyber-attacks will come from – to our managers, evangelists, thought leaders and beyond; techies are the lifeblood of Trend Micro.

It’s the passion, dedication and industry-leading expertise of our techies that has enabled Trend Micro to make the world a safer place in which to exchange digital information. So today let’s raise a glass to them and to techies wherever they are. Happy Techies Day people!

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