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

• Upskill the current workforce by investing resources in developing and training talented people instead of focusing only on hiring new talent. Employees appreciate an employer who’s willing to invest in them because it helps elevate their sense of worth and proves that the company is committed to enhancing their future for them. Think of skill as currency.
• Create a working model that enables small teams of engineers to work on the most interesting problems without having to slog through multiple layers of management. Leaders can reshape their IT organizations around small teams of high-performing engineers to maximize productivity and create highly motivated, self-managing, agile teams.
• Develop a hiring process centered on the candidate’s experience. Invest in modern recruitment software that streamlines the application process and automates administrative tasks. This way, you can focus on nurturing talent effectively and developing a more diverse and inclusive workplace. This applies especially to hybrid and remote models.
• Give young talent a chance! Invest in talented tech professionals with the basic skills required but who need real world experience to enhance their capabilities. Training them could be more cost-effective than you think, and they will surely be grateful for the provided experience and opportunity.
• To maximize the productivity of top tech talent, invest in world-class tools, automation and low-code/no-code platforms. This allows engineers to focus on challenging tasks and spend less time on mundane ones. These investments have led to increased productivity. One company has seen growth from 8 to 1,400 users in one year.
• Another last good secret to retaining talent, but not of less importance, would be to remain authentic about your company’s vision and values. Developing an employer brand strategy to build a positive reputation and communicate your core values is an effective way to attract top talent. It has been said countless times: employees want to engage and be part of meaningful projects, experiment and become better developers and engineers along the way.

Use sourcing-as-a-service for a faster and more effective recruitment process

We understand that recruitment processes for finding the right candidates might take time and effort, so don’t stop reaching out to a nearshore agency or to “sourcing-as-a-service” platforms  whose job revolves around exactly this.

At Simbiosis, we offer an all-in-one platform to source, interview, hire and pay specialized remote tech talent, around the technologies and budget you need. Our integrated solution can speed up your recruitment process to easily grow your remote tech team, with specialized full-time agency and independent talent based in Latin America.

Learn more about our platform in our recent study case or visit Simbiosis to start your process!