The Top 3 Reasons IT Recruitment Is More Difficult in 2022

The top 3 reasons IT recruitment is more difficult in 2022, and what you can do about it to attract better (and more) IT talent.

People are what make up your organization, but you may find that it’s difficult to find the professionals you want to take your business to the next level. Vetting each one is challenging enough, but with new requirements and expectations in a post-covid world, the process could leave you feeling extremely frustrated – especially in the IT field. In this blog, we’ll explore why IT staffing has become more difficult and what you can do to find the best talent for your organization.

Top 3 Reasons IT Staffing is more difficult in 2022

1 – High worker demand and low worker skill

When 2020 lockdowns took effect, many businesses stopped hiring and focused on surviving. Now, over two years later, the economy is starting to grow again and businesses are hiring. Despite this, skilled workers such as those in the IT industry, are still in short supply.

According to a report by Korn Ferry, by 2030 more than 85 million jobs could be unfilled. And it’s not caused by automation or robots taking those jobs. It’s because there won’t be enough skilled people to take them. The result is an $8.5 trillion dollar talent shortage where skilled industries such as the IT sector will be scrambling for new talent that can do the job.

What you can do

A survey by HRD revealed how to give recruiters the best possible success rate at attracting skilled talent in today’s market. Their most prominent suggestions include:

Listening to a salary range in the job advert.
A well planned benefits package.
A human-friendly recruitment process.
Remote working opportunities.

2 – A high worker turnover rate

IT professionals today have reevaluated what they want from a job and what they expect from their careers. According to the Korn Ferry report, the largest percentage of professionals (36 percent) say they are planning on taking a new job in the near future because the pandemic allowed them to re-evaluate what they want and make the change they need. Nearly a third (31 percent) of respondents say they would quit their job without another one lined up, and nearly half (45 percent) say they are more likely now than pre-pandemic to leave a role without another job secured.

In short, employees today are more willing to leave a job if they feel unfulfilled in their positions or disillusioned with their company.

What you can do

While 2020 forced organizations to be in survival mode, they now need to develop future capabilities to retain their IT staff. One major trend for 2022 is focusing on internal mobility to prevent attrition and solve the talent shortage, especially for niche roles.

Here are some of the ways you can do this:

Offer promotions more frequently.
Demonstrate rewards for high performers.
Offer more responsibility to reliable workers.
Offer greater perks to team members who have proven themselves.

3 – The “Great Exhaustion”

2020 was a long year, and 2021 only served to be an extension of this. In the wake of continued lockdowns, government restrictions and elevated workloads, many in the workforce are burnt out – and IT professionals took the brunt of it. IT was responsible for transitioning workers of all industries to a ‘digital first approach’ and was still expected to perform more tasks with limited growth.

Perhaps even more than most workers, IT professionals are burnt out – so much so, that the media recently coined the term the ‘Great Exhaustion’ to describe today’s burnout phenomenon. With performance at-risk, employees need time to recover.

What you can do

HR and employers need to manage the workload and expectations of IT professionals following the long two-year-crunch of 2020 and 2021. According to worldwide recruiting company, HAYS, here are a few ways to do that:

Split and readdress workloads.
Increase mental health and wellbeing support.
Encourage staff to take annual leave.
Reset boundaries between work and home for employees.

Find the IT skills you need

2022 is shaping up to be a challenging year for organizations looking to recruit IT professionals. It seems that many businesses will struggle to find the IT project managers, developers, analysts and cybersecurity staff they need to complete business-critical projects. If you find yourself in this position, you may need an expert in recruiting IT professionals to help you staff and support your business.

With over 30 years of experience, CRI is a leading provider of IT staffing and staff augmentation services, ensuring that professional, skilled, well-qualified personnel are available to our customers. We provide highly skilled IT professionals, available on a temporary or long-term basis so that you can feel confident knowing you have the right staff in place and your projects will be completed successfully.

Contact us today for a full consultation where we’ll review your needs and give you everything you need to start employing the right IT professionals for your business.

Contact us today