The Importance of Location in Tech Staffing: How It Affects Your Business

Historically, the location was paramount when sourcing qualified tech talent. However, is this still true, and how are new hybrid forms of nearshoring and offshoring altering the nature of geo-specific talent management?

In the new normal of remote-dominated enterprise management, and with talent shortages plaguing the technology sector, employers in the technology industry must adjust rapidly to ensure talent streams remain open.

When it comes to procuring the right talent consistently, tech staffing issues have evolved from sporadic to pervasive business impediments; hence, the rise of nearshoring and offshoring product creation and development as a stopgap against missed deadlines.

As tech staffing support goes through the wringer in the aftermath of the pandemic, what should employers expect from recruiting, and do the old rules - primarily urban, forward-thinking areas monopolizing tech talent - still apply?

Pain Point Forecasting

Predicting the location and timing of the significant talent shortage pain points dominated our roundtable discussion. Kirk Winstanley, chief operating officer of BankiFi, referred to periods of cyclical hiring in the tech industry, which he views as indicative of a new hiring norm. As technology usage and adoption evolve and digital transformation advances, shortages will persist.

Korn Ferry states, "85 million positions could go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers." This is consistent with the worst-case scenario of tech staffing models.

Further elements of tech workforce planning and retention were regarded as perennial problems and cross-industry issues, particularly those about the resilience of hybrid teams, fundamental functionality, and tasks lost in translation between global hybrid teams.

Should leadership, in addition to expertise, be outsourced?

As tech companies seek support through near-sourcing and outsourcing solutions, questions about leadership and the most effective leadership styles were also posed. Diverse opinions were expressed, including how much leaders can or should invest in internal administration and how companies can outsource operational direction to bring decision-making closer to remote teams.

To ensure secure talent streams, the majority of our guests agreed that business leaders must focus on the talent themselves - what they want, how they work, and how well they work - rather than relying on traditional recruitment strategies that assume talent can only be sought from specific locations, via specific means, or for fixed roles.

Alternatively, leadership is only as effective as its proximity to the development.

Specific skill sets are in high demand, but location continues to influence the expectations of candidates.

Our roundtable participants identified significant shortages of specialized tech skills, such as Python and React-qualified engineers. The majority of our roundtable participants stated that skill requirement predominates hiring considerations. In contrast, most of our roundtable participants noted that the location of engineers and developers is less important (with some asserting a preference for UK time zones).

However, centralized business operations are prioritized when it comes to sales and marketing. This was because the nature of these teams - "outward-facing, extrovert, they feed off each other" - necessitated a deliberate office culture, complete with the benefits, dynamics, and KPI management that an office entails.

When location does play a role in tech solution delivery, the adaptability of recruitment services becomes a priority.

Kefirah Kang, Director of Professional Services at Finexos, remarked that when she was tasked with helping to assemble a start-up team in London, she desired to keep the implementation team in-house and primarily based in London but to supplement them with targeted tech outsourcing from India and China.

She realized that the key to success was hybridization - offering implementation through tech talent in London for most of the contract while outsourcing very specific, clearly defined aspects of the work to outsourced tech houses. This maintains direction and implementation hyper-focused at home while utilizing offshore solutions and development from other markets - the best of both worlds.

How to design models of collaboration.

The founder of Planixs, Neville Roberts, stated that "the tech recruitment (environment)...is the worst I've seen in thirty years." Tech shortages are reaching a fever pitch, and recruitment services are increasingly relied upon to guarantee fundamental business continuity and contribute to growth strategy or scaling.

Most participants at the roundtable agreed that difficult circumstances require extraordinary measures, the most effective of which were "adapted collaboration models," as described by Kefirah.

In conclusion, novel collaboration models must be developed to benefit remote or outsourced teams while leveraging the strengths of both in-house and outsourced teams.

In practice, this means:

• Leaders should consider time zone reversal and the need for computing skills.
• Product development must have consistent cross-departmental ownership.
• Throughout the project lifecycle, operational leadership and staff retention are crucial.
• Collaboration necessitates compromise; for instance, teams adapting workflows to take advantage of time differences was a significant point raised.

A novel workaround that was proven to increase total team ownership of product implementation was by flipping the responsibilities of in-house and offshore teams. Hence, every stakeholder bears personal responsibility for delivery and has a universal understanding of production.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, tech business leaders must retrofit legacy recruitment strategies by incorporating a bit of hybridity - nearshoring and offshoring play a significant role in ensuring the delivery of tech products. Still, the location is less essential than delivery, trust, operational agility, and results.