You already know that tech talent is in more demand than ever before. You also probably know that you’ll have to reinvent your recruiting and hiring strategy to account for the increased competition. But minor adjustments to your strategy won’t necessarily be enough. To attract and retain top tech talent for the foreseeable future, your changes must account for the major hiring trends shaping the industry—and more importantly, key in on what these professionals truly value.
Tech Hiring Trends to Build Your Strategy Around in 2022
Recruiting in any industry—let alone one of the most in-demand ones—isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it type of initiative; your strategy must evolve with the industry and the shifting demands of the professionals that comprise it. But in such a rapidly changing industry, identifying the trends that actually matter, and ignoring the ones that’ll disappear quicker than they arrived, can seem like a lot of guesswork. It doesn’t have to be. Here are a handful of tech hiring trends that we firmly believe will remain in play for decades to come.
Onboarding Will Be Key
As you likely adopt some degree of remote or hybrid workforce, the reality is that your new hires may not be physically in the same place for their onboarding, meaning you may not be there to start them down the path to success in their new roles.
This is why investing in a digital-first onboarding process will be so important. When you’re hiring new people, it’s imperative that you can supply them with the tools, resources, and knowledge necessary to get started, no matter where they’re working from. If you don’t do that and show them the value of working at your company and how they can be successful, their engagement will likely go down and they could consider looking elsewhere. Remember: Hiring the best of the best is only half the battle. Once they’re on board, you need to get them to stay.
Tech Professionals Want More Than Foosball Tables and Kombucha
In the past, many tech companies adopted the “Facebook” and “Google” workplace models to attract talent, i.e., foosball tables in the common area, kombucha on tap, open floor plans, and fluffy bean bag chairs scattered throughout the office. For a good chunk of time, tech candidates valued these “perks,” so incorporating them into your recruiting strategy made a whole lot of sense. That’s no longer the case.
Today, it’s more important that you demonstrate a clear commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI), mental health, and other people-first initiatives that demonstrate a people-before-profit attitude.
Active Recruiting is a “Must-have” Tactic
If there’s one thing every top tech candidate has in common is that they’re not on the market for long. Some may never be. They’re top talent for a reason and when they become available, word spreads fast. The key to getting ahead of the curve is to build your strategy on active recruiting, i.e., the practice of actively engaging and networking with right-fit candidates regardless of their employment status or your current needs.
By relying on active recruiting rather than its passive counterpart, you can foster and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with people who may be a good fit with your company down the road. When they become available, the rapport is already there and you can swoop right in. Hiring and retaining tech talent moving forward will rely heavily on how quickly you can move. Active recruiting ensures you move faster than the competition.
Tech Hiring Trends to Keep You Ahead of the Competition
The labor market will always have ebbs and flows. The tech market, in particular, is no different. So, will this unprecedented demand for tech professionals always be at this level? That’s unlikely. That said, technology is the way of the future, which means engineers, IT, and cybersecurity professionals will always be highly sought after. To attract them before the competition and retain them, your recruiting and hiring strategy must account for the trends shaping the industry. An optimized onboarding process, people-first benefits, and active recruiting are three of them.