Prince George's tech employers tell county committee soft skills, not just credentials, drive local hiring
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Summary
At a Feb. 23 committee roundtable, IT firms said Prince George’s County produces promising talent but faces gaps in mid-to-senior cloud and AI roles; employers prioritized customer service, communication and accountability and described internship, certification and paid-pathway strategies to grow local hires.
Terry Spiegner, president and CEO of Enjin (introduced by staff as Engen), and Cloudforce associate director Jay Aioli told the Education Workforce Development Committee on Feb. 23 that Prince George’s County has a pipeline of early-career technical talent but faces a shortage of mid- to senior-level cloud and AI specialists.
Spiegner, whose Lanham-based firm provides county data-center hosting and cybersecurity services, said the company recently added four to five employees in the last 60 days and that the firm values professional soft skills — customer service, clear written communications and accountability — above immediate technical mastery. "If you can bring me those three tangible things, I'll teach you how to be a geek," Spiegner said, arguing that employers can train technical skills but struggle to instill professional maturity.
Cloudforce, a National Harbor-based Microsoft partner that develops cloud and generative AI platforms, reported roughly 100 employees and said about 20% of its workforce lives in Prince George's County. Jay Aioli said demand is rising for engineers, AI and data specialists, and that the biggest local gap is experienced professionals with five to 10 years of enterprise-level cloud and AI consulting experience. To bridge the gap, Cloudforce has used hackathons, internships, assessment-driven hiring and certification payoffs (employer-funded certifications and staged promotions) to move junior hires into senior roles.
Council members pressed both presenters on recruitment and retention. Aioli said senior technical roles take about three to six months to fill while mid-level and project roles can be filled in under a month; she also said hybrid and remote preferences have increased turnover. Spiegner said internships — especially multi-year relationships with local colleges — have produced long-term hires and recommended deeper early engagement with Prince George’s County schools to develop soft skills alongside technical training.
The committee asked Employ Prince George’s and county education partners to explore structured apprenticeship, internship and certification pathways that emphasize the soft skills employers flag as essential. The meeting recessed briefly before continuing to presentations from health-care and labor-sector employers.
The committee requested follow-up information about time-to-hire and program outcomes; staff indicated they would supply metrics in writing.
