How industries can hire tech talent post-pandemic
Image by Sue Styles from Pixabay
Adapting to business growth continues to be a significant challenge in the current climate, not least in terms of securing talent. The tech industry is experiencing a shortage of STEM talent right now. In the United States, a recent survey found that 72% of IT and tech workers plan to quit their job within the next 12 months. Technology is clearly not an infallible industry, and with a mass exodus of this proportion, companies need to start improving their recruitment initiatives. Of course, there is one significant barrier; the pandemic. The process of hiring new workers is not the same as it was pre pandemic, and while remote work is still necessary, there are no longer major talent pools.
Where businesses can benefit from improving tech talent post-pandemic involves extension beyond the main locations. While in America, there are locations like San Francisco, Austin, and New York, around the world each company has to think beyond location and “superstar cities.” The pandemic caused a mass migration of workers, causing offices to close their doors and to adapt to remote working models. Therefore, cities that were once home to tech professionals are less concentrated.
Many C-suite executives are responding to this by recruiting outside of the typical regions to support their transformation initiatives, but there are also industry leaders looking to open physical offices in non-high-tech locations to utilise untapped resources which are where companies can benefit from purchasing land for sale as an additional measure. By planting roots in non-traditional tech regions, this means companies can start to launch new locations that will become new technological hubs.
In addition to this approach, businesses need to invest in the talent pipeline early in the process. Many tech companies start to recruit post-college, and this strategy appears to be common sense. The reality is to invest in local STEM education programs, and ensure that people are interested early on, even in school. There are scholarships and after-school programs that are effective in nurturing new talent, and this is an essential component to closing the gap and inspiring the next generation of IT specialists.
The final approach that would benefit is to offer cutting-edge innovation. Through adopting new technology, launching digital transformation initiatives, and investing in R&D, companies can position themselves as a playground for budding professionals who want to work on projects that will influence the next generation. There are incentives like the Research and Development Tax Credit, where organisations can qualify if they are advancing upon existing products or services or developing formulas or software.
The next generation of tech talent is being lost as more people are emerging from remote work and looking for something more. For the benefit of businesses to expand and improve their reach in tech after the pandemic has finished will result in finding the right people, while also dealing with the skills gap. As there is a skills gap in the construction industry, there is a potential for the same to occur in tech.