Cultivating Partnerships for ICT Talent to Thrive

In 2023, 11.58 million students graduated from universities and colleges in China. This cohort overcame incredible challenges to complete their education during the pandemic, and now face an even tougher job market as they try to secure a good job after graduation. As the digital economy thrives, demand for digital talent continues to grow rapidly, and enterprises need to compete to attract the most forward-thinking and application-oriented ICT talent. However, the labor market is characterized by structural and regional imbalances in terms of talent quality.

As the digital economy becomes the main arena for the latest round of global industrial competition, the talent needs of industries going through digital transformation is changing. The China ICT Talent Ecosystem White Paper estimates that by 2025, there will be a shortage of more than 20 million ICT workers, and that this shortfall will only continue to grow. There is a significant lack of talent working on emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data, IoT, AI, and 5G. Accelerating the training and delivery of ICT talent is a key challenge that needs to be addressed in collaboration with enterprises, universities, and training institutions.

Wuhan Yutian Internet Technology (Yutian Education) was founded in 2001. The company has 22 years of experience in training and delivering talent, as well as a deep understanding of the labor market for ICT talent. To bridge the gap between the supply and demand for talent in the industry, Yutian Education is working with Huawei to create a one-stop talent supply chain that covers both talent training and delivery. The two organizations are collaborating on a variety of projects, such as training, to nurture ICT talent and contribute to a thriving ICT talent ecosystem.

Both practical and theoretical knowledge

Huawei's ICT expert certification (HCIE) is a prestigious industry-recognized certification that evaluates trainees' comprehension of, and capabilities in, planning and design, engineering, fault diagnosis, and inductive analysis through scenario-based and modularized professional assessments. Huawei Certified ICT Experts (HCIEs) have the necessary skills and expertise to help improve enterprises' routine O&M efficiency and provide professional advice on digital transformation.

Yutian Education is among the first of Huawei's authorized training partners to collaborate with Huawei on nurturing ICT talent. To ensure all HCIEs are proficient industry experts, Yutian Education regularly reviews and invests in optimizing teaching standards, the learning environment, and employment services.

Having competent instructors is paramount. Huawei's HCIE and HCSI (Huawei Certified Systems Instructor) certifications are taught by a team of more than 20 full-time instructors at Yutian Education. All our instructors are highly skilled and most also have extensive practical experience working on enterprise projects. As the courses are iteratively updated, our instructors continue to improve their technical skills and teaching styles to ensure that they can confidently teach students about the latest industry developments.

As we work to prepare talent for the challenges of corporate ICT work, we feel it is particularly important to focus on their practical skills. Huawei has provided Yutian Education with several sets of ICT equipment that enterprises use in practice to offer HCIE trainees the opportunity to improve their skills in realistic simulations in technical areas such as cloud computing, data communications, data storage, and security. This hands-on experience is vital preparation for future employment.

Yutian Education also recognizes the importance of professional workplace skills when it comes to matching talent to open positions, so the company has set up an employment service team to provide professional training and employment services for trainees.

Linking up enterprises and talent

It is becoming more difficult for college graduates to find jobs and for enterprises to find ICT talent, because there is a fundamental misalignment of talent supply and demand across industries. College students are not graduating with the qualifications and skills that enterprises are looking for. By working with enterprises, Yutian Education helps universities and colleges stay on top of industry developments and corresponding in-demand skills, so that they can adjust their courses and deliver employable talent.

Together with Huawei, we have been working to bring the Huawei ICT Academy and Huawei's certification courses to more colleges and universities. By helping to train university teachers, we ensure that their faculties have the necessary skills to nurture innovative talent. Since 2020, Yutian Education has been organizing campus activities such as teacher training on the Huawei 1+X certificate, university tours focused on ICT talent ecosystems, and the Huawei ICT Competition. In doing so, we have helped nearly 1,000 university teachers improve their teaching skills, and equipped tens of thousands of students with the ICT industry knowledge and skills that they need to reach their potential.

In addition, Yutian Education has helped to build a talent bridge between enterprises and universities. In 2017, we worked with Huawei partners and the Huawei ICT Academy to establish an employment communication platform based on the Huawei ICT Talent Alliance Job Fair. This platform helps match up talent from universities to enterprises, thereby narrowing the talent supply gap. Over the past six years, Yutian Education has organized nearly 30 Huawei ICT Talent Alliance Job Fairs, helping more than 1,300 of the top enterprises and over 1,500 of the brightest students reach preliminary employment agreements.

Since partnering with Huawei in 2012, Yutian Education has trained nearly 3,000 HCIEs and more than 50,000 ICT professionals for Huawei's talent ecosystem. We have established preliminary ICT talent cooperation agreements with nearly 100 universities to nurture ICT talent, and provided high-quality ICT talent training and delivery services to more than 10,000 Huawei ecosystem partners across China.

Yutian Education has made significant contributions to Huawei's ICT talent ecosystem, and has been named an Excellent Huawei Authorized Partner several times. We have witnessed the growth and prosperity of Huawei's talent ecosystem. So far, Yutian Education and Huawei have worked together to create innovative talent training methods, improve training capabilities, and help trainees thrive and succeed. We will continue helping trainees to get off to the best possible start in their careers, support them as they explore bolder career paths, and continue to deliver more talent for the ICT industry to facilitate the digital transformation of more industries.