Your Signal to Upgrade your Tech-Recruitment Game

The tech industry is one of accelerated and never-ending growth, where anyone who owns a company of any sort could be in need of?IT talent. According to a McKinsey study published last year, significant skill gaps in?seven IT areas?already exist, and they expect them to grow more severe.

Companies struggle more than ever to find the right candidates and meet their expectations, and vice versa. SHRM conducted?a study?where it found that 83% of respondents have had trouble recruiting suitable candidates for their job openings. Out of those, 75% believe there is a skill shortage among their applicants.

We’ll start by offering more context on why the pool of specialized tech talent feels a bit “hard to reach”, then provide tips and tactics that companies can use to close their tech-talent gap.

Reasons behind the gap in tech skills

Supply-driven

• There are growing expectations from developers, who understand their talent is in high demand and recognize their value. They are not only looking for a?competitive salary?(above average) but also expect perks, flexible working schedules and to be part of interesting projects.
• Universities and computer science schools find it hard to graduate enough students each year with the necessary skills; tailoring their curricula to the fast-changing industry needs is not usually achieved. Careers focus on the theoretical parts of their disciplines, and internships, where the students can get real-work experience, are mostly unpaid.

Demand-driven

• With much higher expectations from companies, employers are opting to focus their job openings on senior software developers with multiple degrees and long employment histories instead of training entry-level employees. But by not opening up entry-level opportunities, developers won’t be able to get real-world experience to enhance their capabilities.
• It’s common to have companies with inefficient onboarding processes. They either don’t think that onboarding is necessary or don’t have a properly structured plan in place. This can result in increased stress for the employee and end in high staff turnover.
• Constant changes in coding standards are limiting the life of software code, pushing companies to upgrade regularly to remain competitive. The lifespan of code typically lasts a few years.

Tactics for companies to close their tech-talent gap

Discover the tactics for closing the tech-talent gap and our final insights in the full article at Nearshore Americas.