During the fall of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, many adults in the hospitality, travel, tourism, and customer service fields found themselves at a career crossroads. Some of these individuals explored new career paths to change the uncertainty of their current situation. In Delaware, some turned to Zip Code Wilmington to reskill into the technology field.  

With funding from the Capital One Impact Initiative, Zip Code Wilmington was able to continue its operations while keeping students safe in a remote training environment. As a result, during the height of the pandemic and job freezes, Zip Code Wilmington not only successfully trained 31 Delaware-area residents reskilled through Zip Code Wilmington’s 12-week software development and data analytics bootcamp, it was able to place over 85 percent of these individuals in great paying tech careers as software developers and data engineers with employers in the local area.  

The Capital One Impact Initiative is a five-year commitment to support growth in underserved communities and advance socioeconomic mobility by closing gaps in equity and opportunity. The Impact Initiative builds upon Capital One’s mission to change banking for good, and its priorities around racial equity, affordable housing, small business support, workforce development, and financial well-being. 

Zip Code Wilmington is trying to keep pace with the growth of the technology sector and the increase in demand for skilled software developers and data engineers. According to the Q2 2021 Tech Job Report from Dice, job posting activity remained high for the top 50 tech employers with 78 percent increasing tech job postings quarter-over-quarter. Zip Code Wilmington’s leaders are feeling similar demand in the greater Wilmington area too. 

“The need is real in Delaware. Our corporate partners are eager to learn about new cohort graduates as they have an increasing number of tech openings to fill, and these companies have come to appreciate the programming proficiencies and problem-solving abilities of Zipcoders,” commented Zip Code Wilmington’s Executive Director Desa Burton. “We are working to double the number of software programmers and data engineers trained over the next five years – that’s more than 1,000 highly skilled tech graduates within 10 years in Wilmington. The generous support from programs like Capital One’s Impact Initiative are helping us get closer to this goal.” 

If you are considering a career change and want to explore the technology field, visit www.zipcodewilmington.com to learn more. Applications for the February 2022 software development and data engineering cohorts are now being accepted. Deadline to submit is November 28, 2021.