The global economy is facing unprecedented levels of inflationary pressure, which has been compounded by the economic challenges of the last few years. At the same time, the United States is seeing an unprecedented period of job growth, creating a unique economic landscape.
The technology industry is facing increased uncertainty in terms of recruiting and retaining C-suite executives. Businesses of all sizes are competing for talent, as the major software companies benefit from the rise in remote working and offer appealing stock options and incentives to recruit and retain staff.
Recently, businesses have been reducing their recruitment and even laying off some employees. The technology sector’s hiring surge has stalled due to economic concerns and a decline in tech stocks. Despite continued demand, it appears to be levelling off. Those in the IT industry who can adapt to these changes may benefit from employing tactics that make them more attractive to the best talent.
Compare and Contrast: Stock Market Stability
It is understandable to assume that stock prices will continue to increase given the recent trend. Nevertheless, the tech-heavy NASDAQ has seen a 20% decline in 2023 and inflation has exceeded 10%, resulting in a decrease in the value of stock-based compensation plans.
The current market conditions in the technology industry are highly unpredictable, which presents a unique opportunity to certain organisations. If your company was having difficulty recruiting suitable personnel six months ago, it may be beneficial to resume the recruitment process at this juncture.
Candidates who may previously have been put off by the absence of stock options or cash-based pay plan are now expressing an interest in joining our company.
Compensation stability is more desirable if it is combined with job security. The balance between remote and in-office employment remains uncertain at many large IT companies. Having a consistent policy for remote workers or even just a network of regional offices that enable employees to work outside of the major technology hubs is an advantage that competitors cannot replicate.
You may be better placed to offer prospective employees more stimulating tasks than large IT companies. Instead of developing another streaming service or marketing-oriented social media application, you could attempt to tackle a challenging international supply chain problem.
Think Outside the Box When Hiring
Due to economic instability, businesses have found it difficult to hire personnel to the extent that they would desire. Utilising a staffing agency for technical assistance on a per-hour or per-project basis is a popular approach to obtaining external resources.
A contract-to-hire arrangement may provide access to specialist knowledge without requiring a long-term commitment. This approach can accelerate the process of bringing an experienced employee into the company, allowing for a ‘trial period’ to assess their performance on certain tasks and compatibility with the company culture.
In a Time and Materials arrangement, the end result is of paramount importance. Such contracts can become costly when used to engage a large staff, particularly if their specialist expertise becomes outdated before the project is completed.
Alternatively, businesses can consider enlisting the services of external experts. Companies such as Works provide not only the personnel required for success, but also the necessary leadership, guidance and operational framework.
For one-off projects such as mobile app development, it may be necessary to recruit a team with a range of specialised skills. Alternatively, it may be possible to outsource on a time and materials basis, with the necessary resources managed and coordinated by the team leader. In either case, strong leadership and management skills are essential to ensure a successful outcome.
Comparing the two, let’s consider the practice of “renting” a service. An organisation may pay a provider on a regular basis to develop applications. The provider can adjust the number of resources according to the requirements of the organisation. For example, many front-end designers can be used at the beginning of the app’s development, and then extra developers can be added later in the app’s life cycle. This should have minimal disruption for the organisation using the service and, depending on the terms of the contract, might not even increase the total cost.
Partnering in this way necessitates not only collaboration, but also effective management and allocation of resources. Taking mobile app development as an example, the service provider should have their own internal processes, code repositories, and documentation guidelines. A capacity-based vendor should operate as an extension of your company, so that you don’t have to be involved in the daily details, in the same way that corporate IT departments accept requests from other business units, and then manage the execution, reporting, and delivery with minimal oversight.
Service providers may be subject to macroeconomic fluctuations, which could be used as a bargaining chip when negotiating the terms of service contracts. Establishing a good working relationship with a capacity-based supplier in advance allows for more flexibility in price negotiations and can help ensure that any regulatory requirements for scaling up or down capacity quickly and efficiently are met without the need for permanent or temporary recruitment.
Always Keep an Eye Out for Sales
It is essential to monitor the job market on a regular basis, regardless of whether you are in the saturated athletic wear industry or the IT sector where skills are in decline. It is important to assess your portfolio of partners for any gaps, and to ensure that your HR team are aware of which skill sets should be observed.
In times of difficulty, there is potential to be seized. IT leaders can take advantage of the situation by obtaining experienced personnel at a reduced cost, either for full-time employment or through a mutually beneficial partnership.
