We Have Good News, And We Have Bad News
Let’s Start with the Dizzying Numbers
This past Tuesday, June 6th, the US Department of Labor(USDL) released a startling macro level report stating there were 6 million open jobs in the United States as of April, 2017. A record high for the country, indicating companies are clearly ready to hire. That’s the good news. The bad news – there isn’t nearly enough skilled labor to fill the positions, which will most likely trigger higher wages for new workers. More good news if you’re one of the candidates being hired, but certainly a challenge for a hiring company’s budget.
Contrast this macro level report to a micro report released by Gartner and the USDL, and just under 20% of these unfilled positions can be attributed to the technology industry. According to Gartner, “Service providers are waging war against U.S. talent shortage with unconventional methods.” The report also stated, by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer specialist job openings, but not even enough qualified graduates to fill even about 30 percent of these jobs. Again, great news for those individuals who’ve acquired the critical skill sets. International Data Corporation(IDC) predicts a talent gap for data management and interpretation skill sets to be as much as 1.8M by 2018.
According to the CIO Executive Council’s 2016 IT Talent Assessment Survey, IT leaders view the technology talent shortage as an “existential threat” to their business.
Overall the economy is certainly heating up, but there’s challenges for both talent as well as the hiring companies. The following is our quick check list of a how to manage the shift to your greatest advantage:
Candidate’s Perspective
- Do your research on both demand by IT role and average wage, and then bump that information against your experience or level of certifications.
- Be careful to avoid a wage war between 2-3 hiring companies – this might be great for your wallet in the short term, but could be perilous for your career in the long-term. The losing companies may have long-term memories- cancelling out your consideration for a future dream job.
- Do consider the role, the experience you would acquire with an opportunity, and more importantly the culture – does it align to your work ethics and personality? Don’t be afraid to speak to current or former employees – if the position is a good fit, you’ll find life to be a little easier to tough through the stressful moments.
Company’s Perspective
- Talent search should be a never-ending priority, regardless of vacancies. Be open to speaking and meeting with talented technology professionals, even if they aren’t actively searching. Building a pre-qualified talent pool can reduce stress when unexpected positions need to be filled.
- Continuous benchmarking against wage by position will save critical time during the recruitment and negotiation stage. Be competitive, and prepared to increase slightly to secure the best talent.
- Plan. Plan. – the farther out you’re able to plan open positions, the more time you’ll have to find the talent that meets both your compensation budgets, and cultural fit without compromising the health of the business.
At CultureFit, we work endlessly to have a talented bench of pre-qualified professionals – it’s a discipline that pays for itself when openings or new projects need to be filled by our clients and for our own high growth organization. We make sure we’re prepared to handle the most unexpected assignments with the shortest turn-arounds. We also keep a close pulse on the market to understand competitive compensations and benefits – this is part of our valued services to our clients. Looking for a reliable and dedicated IT staffing and recruitment company? Let’s talk. We’re ready to surprise you. www.culturefit.com
