If you’re still blaming COVID-19 for the talent shortage, you need to wise up. In 2023, more than half of IT and tech businesses experienced a talent shortage, and 44% of businesses expect it to get considerably worse over the next 5 years.
If you’re using on-demand tech talent to fill skills gaps in your organization, but are lacking a formal strategy – check out Fiverr Enterprise, a Freelancer Management System (FMS) that helps you source, onboard, manage and pay freelancers compliantly and with ease.
Keep reading to learn why talent shortages are happening, and what you can do to attract and engage top skills inside your own org.
This is part of a series of articles about talent management.
What Is a Talent Shortage?
A talent shortage is exactly what it sounds like – not enough skilled talent working in IT and tech companies. This happens when organizations can’t find enough workers to fill their emergent needs, and are left with gaps on their teams or niche skills that they can’t attract and retain. It could be that the business is failing to attract the right people, or it could be that there are fewer qualified candidates available than are in demand in the market.
What Causes Talent Shortages?
There are many reasons why talent shortages crop up in any given industry. For example, in healthcare many people feel they are not being compensated well enough, and so leave hospitals and clinics for private work or more lucrative career options.
In tech specifically, there are a number of key drivers for talent shortages. First, rapid technological advancements mean it’s tough for the workforce to keep up. Many companies today are looking for AI expertise or machine learning skills, but business’ digital transformation is happening faster than people can learn for. While many students are entering university to learn these skills, organizations need the support in real-time.
There are also demographic shifts to consider. People are staying in the workforce longer than ever before, but tech is often seen as a young person’s game! Skills which are highly prized by an aging workforce just don’t necessarily suit the needs of a modern business.
As time moves on, we’re all experiencing the changes to work preferences and employee values. Millennials and Gen Z would like more autonomy and flexibility over how they work, and are reluctant to come into the office every day or accept an organization’s terms and conditions. Instead, they are working for themselves, getting direct clients, and setting their own salaries, working hours, and expectations.
Finally, there is also the issue of training and education mismatches, which is exacerbated by the speed of digital transformation. By the time graduates get through college, they may have been trained in the wrong skills, and the same is true for the courses and professional development that many companies channel their employees towards.
Impact of the Talent Shortage for Businesses
It’s hard to overestimate the impact of talent shortages on today’s tech companies. Without being able to fill critical roles, companies face hindered growth and innovation, as they are generally working around the clock just to get to zero. Think about a developer team who is short-staffed – they will be unable to do much more than maintenance and technical debt. There is a huge strain on existing employees, who often experience burnout and stress because they are overburdened with additional responsibilities that should really be someone else’s job.
Behind the scenes, the talent shortage also squeezes the budget, as companies are forced to pay above market value to compete to attract workers in a limited pool of talent.
What Strategies are There to Address Talent Shortages?
If you’re sick and tired of dealing with the fallout from the talent shortage, there are a few approaches that can help.
- Invest in Training and Development: Look at your existing pool of talent and think about who could engage in training or professional development to up their skills. Data scientists could increase their skills in AI and ML, while programmers could add new languages to their tool belts.
- Adopt Flexible Work Arrangements: Offer employees more autonomy and flexibility when you’re interviewing strong candidates. This could be more impactful to many hires than a higher salary offer, and lessen the impact on the bottom line.
- Enhance Employer Branding: Do people know that you’re a great place to work? Increase your social media image, and think about partnering with universities and colleges to get your name and reputation in front of potential talent at the earliest stages.
- Utilize AI and Data Analytics for Talent Acquisition: AI-based platforms to help you find talent are becoming increasingly popular. These help you sift through the thousands of profiles in job marketplaces, and narrow down the search to those who would be a good fit.
Embracing On-demand Tech Talent Through a Freelancer Management System (FMS)
One answer to the talent shortage is to expand your idea of the workforce to include freelancers and on-demand tech talent. Freelancers allow you to scale your workforce up and down on demand, keeping costs to a minimum, and leveraging a wide range of niche IT and tech skills who are not interested in traditional employment.
Fiverr Enterprise provides an IT talent pool, curated especially for you – one place where you can gain instant access to your own carefully vetted Dev & IT talent, that’s ready-to-hire and able to meet your business requirements.
Hire any tech expertise, eliminate resource uncertainty, reduce hiring costs and maintain a consistent and quality workforce. Our SaaS solution enables you to confidently take on more projects, knowing you have a dedicated talent pool that’s always available.
With Fiverr Enterprise, you can hire any tech expertise fast and exactly when you need it, reducing bench spend and ensuring every worker is always billable, allowing you to stay well within your budget. You get access to a global, pre-vetted talent pool, saving you time and bringing the expertise to your door.
Talent shortage? What talent shortage?
Interested in leveraging on-demand tech talent to fill skills gaps and sidestep the talent shortage? Schedule 30 minutes with one of our expert team.