The changing trends in IT Recruitment

The rapidly increasing change in Technology :

In today’s world we can surely say that if it’s not changing, then it’s not technology. Technology has been changing now at a faster rate; and it’s not alone the variations in certain technologies that create the ripples, it’s the newer technologies being introduced on a rapid basis that is adding to the disruption. Needless to say that this impacts the Hiring as well in this space and the Recruiters have to be on their foot at all times coping up with the changes in technology.

The niche tagging:

Every new technology or its variation when introduced, brings in the demand for such skills tagging them as niche. Trainings, be it classroom or Online, start focusing on making the most of the trend; companies decide to move towards it and then the trained candidates get in demand, getting multiple offers; salary slabs are raised ; attrition becomes a challenge for such skilled people etc. Recruiters starting to hire in those skill sets start calling themselves niche recruiters in those skill. Those who fail to stay updated with the trends, might be seen foolish to call themselves niche for a no longer niche skill.

Need for multi-skilled.

The newer skills of today are inter-connected and hence the ideal candidates are those that possess the complete set of interconnected set. Full Stack Developer meaning a developer having knowledge of both Front and Backend is much desirable than one having either of it. The JD has become more complex to understand with 10s of jargons being added on a daily basis representing some new language, its framework, some DevOps tool, some visualization tool etc. A mandatory question these days for Recruiters is whether the alternatives to that technology is allowed or not.

Increase of startups:

Diving into certain skills like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Analytics / Data Visualization, Robotic Process Automation, DevOps, Blockchain, Voice trigged Assistance, Advancement into computer vision which are impacting almost all industries or at least the IT wing of those, at the same time, have resulted in increasing demand for service & solution providers and hence the increasing number of startups. Initiatives like “Ease of doing Business” , “Digital India” or approvals on “Non-Banking Financial Institutions” in India has further increased the number of startups. The questions on funding, date of establishment, founder’s profiles, product road-map etc. which were not so important earlier have now become mandatory for the recruiters to ask. Studying a company before hiring is the new pre-requisite.

Salary Benchmarking:

A common formula for salary benchmarking as a function of years of experience is no longer relevant in all situations. While a traditional company still would go with similar formulas of Experience * 1.5/2 etc., the salaries of todays depend on multiple factors, way beyond the coverage of any known formula. The funding, the time to launch, skills, need to attract candidates etc. result in Recruiters to ask detailed questions to the Hiring Managers rather than assuming the previous formulas.

Non Traditional Hiring Methods and AI-assisted Recruitment

These increasing number of start-ups again change the way hiring is done. Some non-traditional trends like “No-Resume Hiring” , “Hiring through coding Hackathons” etc. have come into being. AI assisted sourcing is another trend and there are many startups now completely focusing on this space claiming to increase the speed of recruitment. The recruiters now have a choice to go with these AI-based products to reduce the search cycle.

The younger leaders and a flat structure

As more and more startups are founded by younger folks, these founders believe in the potential of youngsters at a leadership level and you now see positions demanding candidates with a cap on age at mid-30s. Further gone are the days of complex hierarches. More and more startups are going for flat structures. A positive impact is the way Recruiters need to brand positions; its no longer by titles alone, its more by roles and responsibilities.

Co-working space Impact and Cabin-less managers and leaders

The changes in Office Space is another trend which impacts the Hiring. A check on whether a candidate is open to work in a co-working environment and for a managerial candidate, if he or she is open to work without a cabin has almost become mandatory. Companies now need leaders that are suitable for the open culture, people that like to mingle around with their people rather than sitting in closed cabins.