If you ask if the quality talent is available in the IT industry, the answer is still no, but with new technologies and digital transformations, businesses are filling the necessary skills gaps creatively. Read on to know how..
Over the years we have witnessed the IT industry’s development accelerating with digital disruption and a wide range of emerging technologies. But still, there is an acute shortage of right skills and the right number of talent.
This existing gap not only puts pressure on the standard IT hiring trends and practices but also raises the bar for companies to offer competitive salaries in this tight talent market. According to Robert Half 2019 Salary Guide, based on 2,600 IT hiring decision-makers in North America, organizations are finding creative ways to fill skills gaps.
A few hiring trends in 2019 are,
Demand for Hybrid job skills
The report by Robert Half suggests that the hottest industries for IT in 2019 are manufacturing, financial services, software as a service (SaaS), and healthcare. As these industries require skills that are more than IT knowledge, managers are looking to hire IT professionals with industry-specific business knowledge to navigate Digital Transformation. While this reasoning is justified, it only shrinks the talent pool. This makes 46% of technology leaders turn to specialized recruiters to find talent.
Digital Transformation transforming hiring
With Digital Transformation evolving in almost every industry today, it helps to push businesses to evolve the relationship among all C-Suite officials with CIOs. Since companies are eager to offer new products and services and enhance the customer experience, IT professionals are increasingly becoming co-creators. To achieve success in the new endeavors, companies hire for specific skills and Digital Transformation efforts can also be quickly thwarted by a talent shortage.
Looking for Project-based professionals
Due to the talent shortage, IT departments are turning to ‘project-based consultants and other interim professionals.’ A flexible staffing strategy helps IT departments to stay agile and jump into new projects, implementations, upgrades, and cloud migrations without disturbing daily operations. Hiring consultant-based workers allow IT departments to answer skills gaps until a full-time employee is found for the job.
Soft skills preferred over hard skills
As IT departments take on important roles in every business, it has become crucial to hire technical professionals who can collaborate and communicate with non-technical departments. This requires employers to be interested in candidates with active critical thinking, listening, and communication skills.
Higher Compensation packages
Technical professionals are aware of the shortage of talent and have ‘high expectations’ when it comes to compensation, professional development, benefits and company perks. According to the report, 43% of technology leaders are also willing to raise the compensation package while hiring for certain positions. Around 33% of companies have profit-sharing plans, annual or biannual bonuses (44%), spot bonuses (22%), and even and retention bonuses (12%) to keep workers.
Training to groom the qualified candidates
Companies have become open to training candidates instead of holding out for a candidate who checks all the boxes. While this can easily lead to missing a great hire, it is more important to get the role filled quickly.
Experts suggest that if a CIO interviews a candidate who is a good cultural fit and has the right fundamental skills, it is worth the investment.
