Hiring tech talent: Is there really a lack of it out there?
April 2, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Online recruiting
We’ve been hearing a lot about the “war for talent” that’s heating up - and supposedly its most intense when you’re talking about employees with technical experience. But is the skills shortage real?
A lot of experts are saying “No.” For one thing, wages for IT workers haven’t risen drastically over the past few years - which would be evidence of tough competition. Also, surveys of HR departments about filling IT positions hasn’t revealed a whole lot of difficulty.
What can it be then? Some people are saying that rumors of a tech skills shortage are perpetuated by groups with something to gain. For example, industry business people may want the government to relax visa restrictions to allow access to cheap foreign labor. And tech consulting and education might be trying to convince companies to send business people to them for technology training.
Also, it can be difficult for HR folks to hire tech people, even if there’s a lot of them out there. That’s mostly because it’s tough to look for tech employees if you’re not a tech expert. What’s required, then, is a closer involvement with IT department heads in the recruiting - not just the hiring - process.
Read more about the talent shortage debate here.
April 9th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I have been in IT my entire working life, and as such I have seen the industry change (inevitably) towards more specialization and “large scale” skills and applications. If you are lucky enough to work where these “bleeding edge”, “leading edge” and “new and improved” solutions are being utilized, then you have a chance at getting the training and experience to keep up with the new job market demands. If your not, it makes if very hard to gain the required experience most of these companies are looking for.
There are a lot of good, experienced technical personnel that are more than capable of learning and supporting these “new” requirements, but often, the market does not have enough demand to cause employers to take someone less then “the ideal candidate” and grow them. So what that says in reality is… “People are our greatest resource, as long as they already have exactly what we want.”
From a practical stand point, companies want and need the best fit for the job requirement. Sometimes, that best fit is the person you just brushed off because they didn’t have the 5 years of SharePoint experience or the degree you specified. The jobs are out there, and so are the skilled workers, just maybe not in the exact flavor your looking for. So, realize that the greatest resource can be very flexible and grow to meet the requirements of tomorrow, not just today.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Does anyone truly believe there is a labor shortage and US companies have no choice but to recruit and hire H-1Bs or L1s? Consider the many articles, testimonies, comments, and videos which say H-1B is all about cheap indentured labor from low wage countries. Go see the Cohen and Grigsby video where immigration lawyers advise how to AVOID hiring qualified Americans. Consider the very high percentage of H-1B and L1 candidates which coincidentally happen to come from the poorest low wage countries on earth. Even if H-1B proponents win a few more battles I think they’re destined to lose the immigration war. The American public is becoming more and more upset at being undercut by low wage foreign labor in their own country. We’re risking a major backlash by continuing on this course.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I agree that it is mostly a scam by large firms to not hire americans at the prevailing competitive wage. If there is indeed a shortage of IT science and math then they can certainly encourage additional individuals to enter the field via marketing and other methods already time tested to do that very thing. I’m certainly interested in IT and have a fair knowledge but it’s not enough and there is no support for learning more from companies. They seem to want you at scientist level before hiring you. I say train those that you need and you’ll have emmensely greater loyaly from your staff for helping to make their lives better, with greater knowledge and ultimately standard of living.