Navigating the Complexities of Hiring and Retaining Tech Talent in Today's Market

Proof of continued workforce reduction in the tech sector can be seen in recent layoff announcements by companies such as Meta Platforms, Palantir, and Eventbrite. According to Crunchbase, the tech industry eliminated 234,000 jobs last year and an additional 94,000 since January.


Despite this trend, companies need help to attract and retain qualified tech talent, according to a survey of 1,000 human resources professionals by General Assembly, a talent recruitment and placement firm. Data supports this, as a report from consulting firm Janco found 109,000 unfilled IT jobs due to a lack of qualified candidates, despite a slowdown in tech unemployment in January.

Lupe Colangelo, interim head of talent and operations at GA, believes traditional hiring methods could be more reactive and effective in finding suitable candidates. Almost 90% of hiring teams are concerned about their ability to find qualified talent. Colangelo suggests that this mismatch is due to lengthy hiring processes and overlooking underrepresented groups. For instance, only half of GenZ workers plan to pursue a four-year degree, but many companies still require it, limiting the pool of talent they can recruit from.

Colangelo further notes that hiring for tech roles takes an average of seven weeks, and by the time a company posts a job, they may have needed the candidate for several months.

The statement "Every company is a tech company" becomes more complex when we consider that the need for tech talent is growing across all sectors of the economy. For instance, John Deere, known for its farm equipment, has incorporated software and other technology into its tractors and now needs to hire tech talent to analyze the collected data.

As a result, tech workers find employment in industries that are not traditionally considered "tech," including food and fashion. The most competitive recruiters at these companies attend industry conferences to find talent long before the need for hiring arises.

This expansion of the tech industry means that every company can be considered a tech company, providing more significant opportunities for tech talent to find employment.

In the post-Covid era, the issue of country borders and time zones still affects hiring, but there needs to be a change in mindset towards opening up the talent pool. Companies want to hire people from different countries at lower costs while ensuring they are full-time employees who adhere to legal, benefits, and tax requirements.

Companies such as Playroll, specializing in cross-border hiring, can field the legal, benefits, and tax liabilities for companies that want to take advantage of worldwide talent. For example, suppose a company wants to hire a software engineer in Brazil but needs more experience in the country, Playroll can find and onboard the talent on behalf of the company, allowing them to work remotely. This approach will enable companies to have virtually in-house offshore employees while outsourcing administrative work.

Instead of just offering a job, companies must create a vision to attract and retain specialized tech talent, according to recruiter Owen Healy, who focuses on finding blockchain skills. In a highly competitive market, inspiring developers with a mission and legacy is essential to securing top talent, particularly the few thousand highly experienced coders who compete for 80% of open positions. To attract more diverse talent, companies must listen to what teams need, revamp job descriptions, check biases during interviews, and create inclusive cultures for nontraditional talent. Retaining skilled remote talent also requires connecting them with other team members and scaling human capital elements. Companies that hire across time zones but set work hours within a range to support projects can access the best global talent, said Louis Demetroulakos, head of partnerships at Playroll.