Filling job roles at your company can be challenging even under ideal circumstances. You must recruit talent, screen candidates, and hope you make the right hiring decisions. This process has become particularly difficult in the tech industry due to the tech talent shortage of 2022.
As you are most certainly well aware, the ongoing global talent shortage is one of the worst ever, and the technology sector has been among the hardest hit. The lack of qualified talent has exacerbated existing hiring woes and created new struggles for companies worldwide.
Companies like yours face five common struggles when attempting to fill job vacancies. Here is a list of them, along with some tips on what you can do to overcome them.
Difficulty Hiring Entry-Level Candidates
Let’s open this discussion with the most obvious struggle caused by the 2022 tech talent shortage — filling entry-level spots. This can be quite challenging to address because there are simply not enough technology professionals to keep up with the growing demand. Your company and every business in your industry are competing to recruit an insufficient number of candidates.
Fortunately, there are some easy solutions. First, you should make your company a more appealing option for job seekers. You can do this by creating and promoting a desirable company culture, offering remote work options, and ensuring that your benefits packages are on par with — or better than — those offered by your competitors.
You should also create an internship or sponsorship program. For instance, you could offer tuition reimbursement to entry-level technology professionals if they agree to work for your company for several years. Programs like this typically require a two-year work commitment, but you can consider offering shorter tenures that may be more appealing to job seekers.
High Attrition Rates
Organizational vacancies occur for three main reasons: Involuntary separation, growing staffing needs, and voluntary attrition. The latter accounts for nearly half of turnover and has increased due to the global talent shortage. Here’s why:
Employers have all the leverage when desirable positions are scarce, and the talent pool is full of job seekers. However, those roles have reversed due to the 2022 tech talent shortage. Qualified technology professionals have many opportunities when they elect to leave their company and seek “greener pastures.”
To combat this trend and minimize attrition rates, consider whether you are providing a diverse and welcoming workplace culture and demonstrating appreciation for your staff. Offering training and development opportunities is an excellent way to show employees you are sincerely interested in their success.
An Indeed study cited training and development opportunities as two of the top employee benefits. Nearly one-third (32%) of tech workers said learning and career development opportunities–either through company training or tuition reimbursement–were the most valued aspects of their job.
Protecting Company Culture
Protecting company culture should always be a priority, even during a global talent shortage. While filling job roles is vital to company success, you should be careful not to hire candidates at the expense of company culture. Doing so can worsen the effects of other hiring struggles and endanger business continuity.
New hires should possess required technical abilities, but you should also ensure they are a good fit for your company culture and that their values are aligned with your company mission. Essential assessment criteria include emotional intelligence, communication skills, and reasoning ability. Emotional intelligence is critical because it determines whether candidates can collaborate effectively with coworkers and contribute to a positive work environment.
Succession Planning
Filling entry-level positions is challenging enough during a global talent shortage. Finding candidates to step into leadership roles is even more so. In fact, technology leaders are currently some of the most sought-after candidates in the job market.
With that in mind, we recommend that you center your succession planning strategy around promoting from within. Work to identify existing staff members who possess leadership skills and help them develop and enhance their talents. This approach will pay dividends by increasing loyalty toward your company while simultaneously allowing you to fill important leadership positions.
Preserving Business Continuity
Every vacancy that your company carries represents money and lost opportunity. However, hiring mistakes can be equally costly. This can make it challenging to protect business continuity and grow your business.
Luckily, skills tests are a tried and true solution that allows you to protect business continuity, hire smarter, improve the effectiveness of your training programs, and identify employees with leadership potential. They are expert screening tools that your HR team can use to measure an individual’s technical abilities and soft skills such as emotional intelligence and leadership ability.
Some of the most widely used IT skills tests include AWS Data Lake, Data Science, and Data Analytics. The insights you gain from these skills tests enable your recruiting team to make data-driven hiring decisions, identify training needs, and guide succession planning efforts.
Do you want to learn how you can leverage skills tests to combat the 2022 tech talent shortage? Contact us to request a demo.