Demand for tech talent is higher than ever.
In the UK, around 870,000 tech vacancies were available between January to May 2022, which is the highest number ever recorded since Adzuna began collecting data.
Supply, however, is a different story entirely.
Globally, talent shortages are set to reach 4.3 million workers by 2030, with a forecasted $449.70bn shortfall (equal to 1.5% of the whole US economy).
In other words, the global tech talent crunch presents a significant challenge for tech leaders.
So how can leaders hire in a tech talent crunch?
As mentioned above, supply and demand aren’t equal in tech at the moment, and this trend is likely to continue into the future.
The demand for senior tech positions, for example, has increased over the last three years – for every ‘no experience’ role advertised, there are around eight senior roles advertised.
According to Tech Nation, the assumption can be that the number of entry-level candidates outweighs the number of entry level roles, whereas for senior roles, the number of vacancies outweigh the number of suitable candidates.
The issue is that, globally, fewer prospective tech employees will be able to gain the experience they need to join the industry, and fewer companies will have the ability to hire the experienced employees they need.
What steps can you take to avoid facing the tech talent crunch?
If talent is scarce, and you’re also competing with companies that are equally in need of talent, then your first course of action should be to consider how you can differentiate yourself.
This is particularly relevant to which benefits you’re offering employees – salary is no longer a sufficient fallback for businesses to rely on in such a competitive hiring market.
Instead, emphasis should be put on building on the following areas for employee benefits:
This will make up the bulk of your employer value proposition (EVP), which is what you offer current and potential employees in return for the skills they bring to your business.
When looking at the above, consider what it is that would encourage candidates to apply for a role or motivate them to work at your organisation.
The crux of a strong company culture is how you treat your employees – after all, the advocates of your company culture are your employees.
Research by Glassdoor found that 77% of adults across the United States, UK, France, and Germany would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job there, and 79% would consider a company’s mission and purpose before applying.
These are hardly insignificant findings when there is such a critical race for tech talent.
Interestingly, company culture was also cited as being one of the main reasons that almost 65% of employees stay in their job.
This makes company culture vital for not just attraction, but also retention purposes.
Company culture can be best described as a combination of your values, vision, and people, and how they define the atmosphere in the workplace and how motivated people are to go to work.
Think of company culture as a definition of what your company standards for, what makes it different, and how it is aiming to improve (e.g. ED&I efforts, CSR initiatives) – combine your EVP with these elements, and you’ll have a strong company culture to attract tech talent.
Having too narrow of a focus in your tech recruitment efforts can quickly cause an already small talent pool to become even less accessible.
By widening your talent pool, you’re overcoming the potential challenges of competing with a high number of businesses for a very select group of ideal candidates.
Instead, you can expand your search by:
Rather than focusing on elements that could exclude candidates who might have all of the skills you’re looking for, you’re instead going to have a wider talent pool to choose from.
If there’s one thing that always rings true when it comes to tech recruitment, it’s that things can change quickly and suddenly.
In the same way that demand can overtake supply, the reverse can also occur, and factors are always changing the hiring market and the way in which talent can be recruited.
Whilst the tech talent crunch is likely to cause challenges for leaders, with the right preparation, there could instead be greater opportunities to benefit from.
After all, putting in place the right changes now will mean that you’re a step ahead of the competition when challenges do arise.
It’s time for businesses to be proactive in their approach to tech recruitment, rather than suffer the consequences of being passive when things do change.
Get in touch with the Remit Resources team to discuss your tech recruitment needs.