In a move to support increased market demand for tech support specialists, CompTIA and Google, through its Grow with Google initiative, on Thursday announced that they are offering a dual credentialed badge.

The co-skilled badge will be offered to individuals who successfully complete the Google IT Support Professional Certificate program and earn their CompTIA A+ certification.

CompTIA’s Kelly Ricker

“There are immediate employment opportunities and long-term career growth options in the tech support field for anyone with the right mix of technical and business skills,” said Kelly Ricker, executive vice president for events and education at CompTIA. “The good news is that these skills are teachable,and there’s no better option to learn them than through the credentialing programs offered by Google and CompTIA.”

CompTIA’s A+ certification, which dates back to 1993, lays the foundation for many IT careers. The latest version of the certification is the CompTIA A+ Core Series with expanded security content and a different approach to defining competency in operational procedures.

The Google IT Professional certificate is designed to help IT beginners prepare for an entry-level job in IT support in under six months. The program is a mix of hand-on labs and other interactive assessments, developed by Google. Learners are introduced to troubleshooting and customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration and security.

“We’re excited to offer learners the chance to receive a dual credential for completing the Google IT Support Professional certificate and CompTIA’s new A+ exams,” said Natalie Van Kleff Conley, Google product lad. “We believe hat Google’s hands-on program combined with CompTIA’s A+ exam will give learners a clear path to advancing their skills and displaying their capabilities to employers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that the number of openings for IT support specialists will jump 10 percent over the next several years — from more than 697,000 jobs in 2018 to more than 790,000 by 2028. There was a 39% increase in the number of job posts for IT support specialists from 2017-2018.

In 2018 the median annual salary for an IT support specialist was $50,980, according to the BLS.