Tech Talent Trends: Easy Recruitment, Upskilling in the limelight

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266 Views - 04/07/2023

Ongoing global economic uncertainty is affecting engineering recruitment strategies.

Tech Talent Trends: Easy Recruitment, Upskilling in the limelight

With persistent financial challenges, many organizations are revising their hiring plans by freezing new positions.

Still, demand for skilled tech talent remains strong, especially in newer areas like cloud and containers, cybersecurity, and AI/ML.

Many organizations plan to increase rather than decrease their technical staff. According to the latest job market research, training and upskilling are essential strategies for organizations looking to tackle the changing hiring landscape.

Last month, Linux Foundation Training &; Certification and Linux Foundation Research announced the release of the "Technology Talent Report 2023: Attracting and Retaining Technical Talent in 2023" at the North American Open Source Summit.

The report highlights that 70% of the 400+ hiring managers of the organizations surveyed provide training opportunities for their current technical staff on new technologies, demonstrating a commitment to growth. and continued growth.

Upskilling is becoming more important for recruitment, with organizations choosing to train existing employees more often than hiring consultants when they can't find the right external candidate. This trend recognizes the value of investing in existing staff and the challenges of finding qualified external candidates, according to the researchers.

Certifications and testing are becoming essential tools for organizations to verify the skills of potential candidates. That said, Clyde Seepersad, SVP and GM of Linux Foundation Training &; Certification has avoided answering whether the state of tech talent this year is better or worse than in previous years.

"The long-term growth trends for careers and professionals remain strong. While we've seen some challenges in the sector, organizations and professionals are taking smart steps to keep things going. balance".

1. Change roles, verify skills
More than half of the more than 400 organizations reported modifying their hiring plans due to economic conditions. However, those modifications often include reducing headcount or freezing hiring in one or more areas while simultaneously increasing hiring in others, Seepersad provides.

The bottom line is that the outlook is positive for hiring in the tech industry. Many organizations plan to increase the number of their technical staff in the coming years. There is a constant need for skilled technical talent, especially in more entry-level positions for professionals with developed skills, he explains.

One interesting finding is the shift in the types of technical roles that organizations are filling, emphasizing developers and IT management roles over senior engineering jobs. This shift shows that organizations are looking for skilled individuals who can contribute to project implementation, management and technology development.

Respondents expressed that certification and pre-employment testing are necessary to verify skills in order to address challenges in finding suitable candidates. These measures are beneficial in ensuring organizations hire the right individuals for the role. Furthermore, they provide potential candidates with a clear understanding of the skills they must demonstrate to succeed in the position.

"For more than a decade, the tech training industry has said that upskilling the talent you have is essential to building and retaining strong tech teams. And while training Creation is always offered as a retention tool, and new recruitment and consulting is almost always considered the best way to bring new skills to an organization," says Seepersad.

2. Technology certificates go beyond university degrees
The Tech Talent Report shows that upskilling and new hires are essentially equal as approaches to support the introduction of new technologies and the skills needed to manage them. Three factors are driving this change of direction:
Tech talent will remain in short supply for the foreseeable future.

The introduction is very time consuming, while the revenue is still high.
Recruitment fees are high and the time it takes to place candidates in open roles is measured in months, not days.
Coincidentally, HR managers and their organizations face three key points they need to know to stay competitive, Seepersad said of the report's analysis:
Nearly one in three (29%) of new employees depart within six months of being introduced.
Upskilling is an essential strategy for all organizations, whether used to help mitigate the impact of headcount reductions or to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge.
Training and certifications are increasingly more important than higher education because they provide a means of demonstrating current, proven skills and knowledge.

"This third point is also key for technical professionals. It's clear to us that employers are looking for certified professionals rather than university degrees because certifications assure employers that that individual has the technical skills for the job," he reasoned.

3. How to Meet Tech Recruitment Challenges

For the tech industry to ameliorate the ongoing talent shortage, companies need to be creative in their approach to hiring. They must also consider alternatives to overcome the challenges posed by the current shortage of tech talent, Seepersad recommends.

"While it is tempting to rely solely on external recruitment efforts to fill shortages, the data suggests this will not be enough," he commented.

Organizations must use alternative approaches such as upskilling existing employees, increasing wages, improving work/life balance, and providing opportunities to work on open source projects to earn revenue. attract and retain top talent more successfully.

"The sooner senior management adopts and accepts these alternatives to traditional recruiting practices, the better the situation will be for tech professionals, HR managers and their organizations." , suggested Seepersad.

In addition, organizations should commit resources to the long-term development of talent. He added that they can achieve this goal by getting involved in their communities and supporting organizations that help nurture and develop young talent.

4. Technological growth depends on talent strategy
The tech industry will continue to operate in an increasingly volatile and complex world, according to Seepersad.

Maintaining - or becoming - a strong technology organization, regardless of your business, requires the right talent. That requires a thoughtful mix of solutions to recruit, verify, retain, and develop that talent.