Ease tech talent shortage with innovative recruitment, retention way

As organizations accelerate their digital efforts, the impact of the tech talent shortage increases the strain on resources and productivity. A recent survey by Robert Walters revealed that hiring managers in Southeast Asia find hiring tech talent to be difficult and timeconsuming but critical to business success.

In response to this growing urgency, specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters today issued a technology guidebook titled“5 Lessons in Tackling the Tech Talent Shortage. ”Combining insights from forward-thinking business leaders, HR experts, hiring managers and tech professionals, the guidebook shares key learnings on attracting and retaining tech talent – from creating innovative recruitment and retention strategies and providing learning and growth opportunities within the organisation to zooming in on the instrumental role of tech leaders.

Based on a survey by Robert Walters of nearly 400 technology professionals and hiring managers across Southeast Asia, 68 percent of respondents who were hiring managers took three months or more to fill an open tech position on their team. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest, tech hiring managers rated the difficulty level of hiring talent an average score of 7. Business productivity and innovation took a hit as 7 in 10 hiring managers interviewed shared that the shortage of tech talent negatively affected their speed of product development.

“Extending a pleasant candidate experience is very crucial in today’s extremely competitive talent-attraction environment. Robert Walters believes that every encounter with potential candidates should be positive, as to reflect the company’s culture. There should be a strong message that makes them feel that they are morethan just a trade commodity. This should be central in a candidate attraction strategy for every company, ”said Robert Walters Philippines Senior Manager of IT Andrea dela Casa.

Robert Walters sees strong growth in recruitment activity in the Philippines this year, driven by the country’s positive economic conditions.The increasing adoption of digitalisation and e-commerce in the country will continue to drive demand for top-calibre tech talent. Continued digitalisation efforts will see companies actively looking to hire professionals with strong technical expertise in the field of AI, robotics, big data analytics and cybersecurity. As the market matures, companies are expected to fill more senior-level positions. But because of the job-skill mismatch in the IT sector, companies may face difficulties getting qualified candidates.