Top Tips for Hiring IT Talent Now

Tesla, DocuSign, Snapchat, and Ford Motor Company have all had mass layoffs in 2022.   Despite this, the need for IT talent is still on the rise. Although there has been significant speculation of an impending recession and some companies have slowed down hiring, it’s not the case with tech related positions. For example, in Ohio, there are over 250K job postings in tech related fields according to CompTIA.¹

As a result of the demand, IT wages in Central and Southwest Ohio continue to climb, and Columbus remains among the top ten cities for tech jobs, making the competition for IT talent stiffer than ever.

The Most Difficult to Find and In Demand Skillsets

Finding the right IT talent continues to be a priority for companies in Central Ohio and the Greater Cincinnati Area as the talent gap continues to grow. Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) reported the most difficult IT skillsets to recruit in their most recent Staffing Industry Pulse Survey Report²:

1. Cloud Architect

2. Cyber/Data Security

3. Data Architect/Data Scientists/Big Data/BI

4. Enterprise Implementation/Maintenance

5. Programmer/Coder

Similarly, two of the most difficult to recruit skillsets nationwide also made the list of the most sought-after IT skillsets within Columbus and Cincinnati. The top four most in-demand skillsets Vernovis has seen over the past 90 days in Central Ohio and the Greater Cincinnati Region are:

1. Project Managers

2. Systems/Software Engineers

3. Data Architect/Data Scientists/Big Data/BI

4. Cyber/Data Security

Given this demand and gap in capacity, how can you find qualified candidates for those hard to fill positions?

Top Tips for Hiring IT Talent

With the tough market, what options do you have?  First, be open to a variety of options to find the talent you need.  This could mean filling roles through IT staff augmentation, outsourcing, or trying to upskill and hire from within your own organization. If you’re looking to hire high-level IT, start by re-evaluating your job descriptions using the four tips below:

• Be realistic about what’s needed vs. what can be trained
• Ditch the degree and multiple certifications requirements
• Give up rigidity on experience
• Recognize the value of training platforms

For more help on how to improve your recruiting process or make your organization more competitive for top IT talent, contact us.

Sources:

1. Ostrowski, Steven. “2022 State of the Tech Workforce by CompTIA.” Cyberstates, 2022, https://www.cyberstates.org/#interactiveMap?geoid=39__ohio.
2. “US STAFFING INDUSTRY PULSE SURVEY REPORT: SEPTEMBER 2022.” Staffing Industry Analysts, 2022, https://www2.staffingindustry.com/Research/Research-Reports/Americas/US-Pulse-Survey-Report-September-2022-Selected-Highlights.