Tech Talent Shortage – Why It’s Time To Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

In today’s global economy, technology is more integral than ever. But while demand for tech-savvy workers is high, it doesn’t look like the field will be getting less competitive anytime soon. All facets of the IT business are still feeling the effects of the ongoing skills shortage. The COVID-19-driven haste toward digital transformation has revealed a severe human resources gap.

Concurrently, the global labour market is undergoing unprecedented change, with more of us working remotely than ever before. In fact, a record 4.5 million American employees abandoned their employment in November 2021, according to the US Department of Labor, while companies advertised 10.6 million job opportunities.

Eight out of ten UK digital executives said that personnel retention had become more of a challenge since the global epidemic. According to the Harvey Nash Group Digital Leadership Report, monetary incentives aren’t enough to maintain important employees at most digital companies for as long as they’d want. Only 38% of companies have updated their employee benefits to appeal to workers in the mixed workforce.

According to Nick Gallimore, director of workforce transformation and insight at ERP software provider, Advanced, “the fact is that there’s very nothing preventing workers from moving on,” which is at the core of the issues many organizations are currently confronting.

“People certainly have the option to move on and seek a better opportunity, though they don’t always have the luxury of doing that,” he said. “It’s not just one or two people – it’s a very significant number of workers out there who are considering leaving.”

Gallimore said that this is partly a result of the flexibility offered by digital technologies. “The reality is that people can start working for one employer but then move on to another for their next role,” he said.

“What you’re seeing is individuals moving from an organisation where they’ve worked for five years, and then that organisation starts having some difficulties,” added Gallimore.

Gallimore predicts that the trend will increase since organisations need to ensure they can attract and retain top talent. This will become increasingly important as digital transformation continues to drive their business.

Andrew Hodson, managing director of digital consulting firm Pelham Associates, says it is not a question of whether the market will be able to grow: “The question is how much.”

“There are very few industries where there isn’t some level of opportunity for growth,” he said. “[But] growing your headcount in a pure technology role is unlikely to be enough.”

Hodson noted that in many cases, companies might need to upskill their tech workforce. In other cases, companies may need to build up additional skills. “Do you have enough people with the right skill sets?” he said.

“It’s no longer a question of if someone is going to leave your organisation – it’s more a question of when,” Hodson said.

Hodson added that even though skills gaps are often a concern for tech firms, there is another common factor causing people to look for new opportunities: the desire for growth and better rewards.

Although firms may have experienced rapid growth in some areas over the last few years, many organisations are still struggling with compensation levels. On average, a typical IT worker was paid between $85,000 and $93,000 over the last year.

“There’s still a lot of money to be made in IT,” Hodson said.

“Talent is by far the most important thing that companies can do to improve their business – and they’re not doing it,” Gallimore summed up. “There are so many businesses out there that are begging for somebody else to come help them.”

However, he added, “none of this has left them with an infinite supply of talent. There are simply not enough people with all the right skills to go around.

It’s a brave new world, but with more and more of the workforce working remotely, the challenge for employers across business functions is to attract and retain the talent they need. Concurrently, there are fewer and fewer jobs in some sectors that are still traditional: 9-5 office jobs are being eroded as millennials prefer flexible working and companies look for ways to innovate themselves out of existence in their current industries.

Given this backdrop, it is no surprise that a skills shortage has become a real concern for organisations – predicted by numerous HR and recruitment professionals.

Here Chameleon IT, we can help UK businesses retain and attract top talent, so if you are looking for some of the finest tech talent out there, visit our site or contact our friendly team. We can also match candidates with businesses and help them land their dream job easily, as well as provide assistance throughout the whole process.

Some of the areas we cover include Cloud Technologies like AWS, Azure, and Cloud Computing.

For more information, visit Chameleon IT solutions.