Competition to find and recruit the best talent in IT and Tech is ever increasing. The sector faces a mass skills shortage with Brexit, IR35 tax laws, and the global pandemic all having an effect. The tech industry recovered quickly from Covid-19, with people and businesses relying on tech more than ever. However, this maximised the need for skilled recruits, who will lead the rebuild of the post-pandemic economy in a market that was already lacking the skills.
Frontier Technology looks at how you can attract and keep top-quality candidates in a competitive market to bridge the gap in the current skills shortage.
Short Term Solutions
If you need an immediate skill, you may have no option but to utilise freelancers, contractors, and temporary staff. For a short period, this could be a cheaper solution. However, it will not be an effective medium or long-term solution. They lack understanding of your business, and whilst you can utilise their skills short term, they will not contribute to the wider business aims and objectives.
There are a variety of medium and long-term solutions to help close the IT and technology skills shortages.
1. Training and Upskilling is Now Essential
Investing in your current team will be fundamental with training and Upskilling employees now being a top priority. Amazon recently invested over $700 million in upskilling and training for their employees to advance them into more tech-centric roles within companies.
Investing in the training and upskilling for your employees can make your
company stand out from the tough competition, and in turn, the training will pay for itself. Where there is a lack of training, there will be a lack of skills. Providing good training and mentoring programmes throughout your company will improve employee retention.
This will allow you to develop your staff into learning new skills for the harder to fill or more senior roles that are incredibly challenging to find the perfect candidates for.
2. Widen Your Talent Pool
One way to tackle the skills shortage is to widen your original talent pool. Expand your talent pools to the outside of the traditional tech sector as many skills within IT, science, finance, and tech are transferable. With most businesses relying on the expertise of tech, it is essential to find people with the correct skills you need. These may be operating in a different role or without a qualification that is currently desired. Invest in these people to get the qualifications needed and develop them through your business.
When hiring for a role, take time to investigate the skills required for that role. Focus on the skill, not the current job title, qualifications, or current industry.
Limiting yourself to the country you operate in could be a huge mistake. Taking an international approach allows you to look for the best talent in the whole market, not just where you reside. Whilst it is harder to recruit and relocate from some countries than others, you can get agencies that support and take care of the visa processes so that you don’t have to. Concentrate on world-class talent. With remote or hybrid working becoming the new normal, it is as convenient as it will ever be.
3. Develop Effective Retention Programmes
Hiring in a candidate led market can have its difficulties. Therefore, it is more important than ever to retain your existing employees. Keep the good skills in your company. Improving employee satisfaction is key to reducing staff turnover. As mentioned previously, training is an incredibly effective way of doing this. Other ways include managing workloads, making your employees feel valued with incentive programmes, and mental health and wellbeing support.
Adapt to the new normal, if possible, for your company. Of working adults who home worked throughout the pandemic, 85% wanted to use a hybrid approach of both home and office working in the future. Advertising hybrid working can allow you to hire world-class talent and help to increase your job applications. This empowers you to tap into more diverse talent pools.
Advertising roles internally can be a fantastic opportunity to consider people in your circle that you may have never considered. If people feel like they are not invested in or being promoted, they will leave. It allows you to acquire the skills needed for the hiring role inside the business and keep your employees happy.
4. Apprenticeships and Investing in Junior Talent
Apprenticeships and investing and encouraging young talent will be essential to any company looking to hire tech candidates in the skill shortage. Apprenticeships let you engage the young talent, but also allow you to secure talent from other industries looking to try something new. These candidates often already have the skills required.
Technology, Cyber, and IT companies should be working closely with local schools, colleges, and universities to provide graduate schemes and partnerships encouraging young people into a career in tech. You will have the first pick for the next generation of tech workers. Doing this often opens opportunities to networking events, careers fairs, and courses that the educational institutes may provide.
5. Redesign Your Recruitment Processes
When actively hiring, your reputation as an employer is critical. Candidates often check websites such as Glassdoor, Google Reviews and LinkedIn before even considering a company. Ensure that these shine your company in the best light by encouraging internal staff to help with this.
Streamline your recruitment process and make it as easy and accessible as possible. The best candidates are usually hired quickly. Don’t miss out because of the lengthy process your company takes to hire. If interviews can be conducted online, do so, and make sure candidates are updated through each stage of your hiring process. Making it easy to apply for the vacancies will attract the top talent, and fast-tracking top talent is vital to securing them.
Partner With the Specialists
Find a recruitment company that specialises in your sector. These recruitment companies have a massive pool of skilled people in their database that you may never be able to reach by doing it independently. You can attract an even wider pool of candidates whilst saving your company time and what is often a costly recruitment process.
Working with a recruitment partner like Frontier Technology can provide you with the strongest advantages of hiring skilled tech candidates for your hard to fill roles.
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