Tech industry leaders are under pressure to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase automation – leading to over 150,000 technology industry workers being laid off in the US since the beginning of 2023, according to reports from Deloitte Tech talent gap | Deloitte Insights. But despite these recent layoffs in the sector, companies are still struggling to find all the technical talent that they need to drive new innovation-focused initiatives. They face multiple challenges as they work to fill critical gaps and address the needs of younger workers.
Especially difficult to fill, tech execs report, are senior technical roles like system architects, cybersecurity specialists, and those requiring AI expertise. These skills shortages can hamper companies’ ability to pursue new projects. They have initiatives in the pipeline, but they don’t have the people to develop them, even when they have the budget.
As company leaders struggle to find these people with highly sought-after technical skills – sometimes referred to as unicorns – also in demand are the recruiters who specialize in the sector and know where to find these elusive unicorns who understand how things fit together.
At MRINetwork, for example, from 2020 through September of this year, recruiters identified and placed close to 1,500 technology professionals, many in the hardest-to-find categories. They are able to succeed when often internal recruiting efforts are ineffectual because of the sophisticated network of potential candidates they have at their fingertips. Most of these professionals are not actively job seeking, the recruiters report, so unless you know who they are and where they currently work, they will most likely fail to surface when you are looking to hire.
MRINetwork’s experienced recruiters also offer advice to their clients to help offset the problem of finding the tech workers they need. In the short-term, they suggest, outsourcing can be an option for certain projects. Focusing more on skills rather than degrees could also help alleviate some shortages, as can expanding your talent pool and seeking people with different backgrounds. Providing new education and certification opportunities to current workers around emerging technology is a longer-term cost-effective solution. And don’t forget to look among your existing staff for people with untapped potential that could be fostered.