Recruitment and retention within the IT sector is a key challenge for over half of employers according to a new report by Modis International. Around a third (31%) reported that recruiting the right talent is likely to be difficult in the coming months, whilst one in five (21%) said retaining their people would be a challenge.
Many employers are finding the measures taken during the downturn have left them lacking the skills needed to grow again. Now the economy is officially out of recession, there is a real need to bring new, high calibre people on board to ensure the recovery continues.
Talent emerged as a key issue for the IT sector as it looks to grow out of the recession. Two thirds (66%) of employers surveyed anticipated a growth in their businesses over the next twelve months.
The figures are from The State of the IT Market report – a study that involved conversations held with over 170 UK employers over a month.
In addition to technical expertise, employers now expect their IT departments to be more proactive when it comes to suggesting new solutions (22%), communicate better with the business (28%) and have a greater commercial focus (22%).
Employers ranked social networking (41%), as well as advertising on job boards (30%) and face-to-face networking (28%) amongst the techniques they are most likely to use to attract key talent into their organisation.
Jim Albert, managing director at Modis International, comments: “Recruiting and retaining the best talent is becoming a major challenge for a many IT employers as we move into the upturn.
“We found that over half of IT employers have not reviewed their recruitment processes in the last 12 months, yet hiring processes optimised for a downturn will not suffice in an upturn.
“In an improving economy, growing IT departments should look at how they are attracting new talent into their organisations because as the economy heats up, skilled individuals will be harder to find, and more expensive.
“Historically companies struggle with retention at the beginning of an economic cycle, so at a time of crucial growth employers will need talented individuals that know the business inside and out. “
The State of the IT Market report from Modis International can be found athttp://www.modisintl.com/news/
Article first published on www.onrec.com