Some industries are, by nature, constantly evolving. If you don’t keep up, you’re left in the dust by your competitors. That’s where tech companies find themselves right now — always on the cusp of innovations and trying to be the first to discover or perfect them.
This goal involves hiring the best of the best tech workers around the globe, making hiring in the technology industry a challenge. As trends change, so do the techniques used by small to large companies looking to bolster their tech teams. This guide explores the future of tech hiring, sharing the projected trends on the horizon to help you plan your hiring strategies.
1. See the World As Your Limit
Labeling where the “smartest” people in tech are is an opinion-based concern, but those in the industry try to follow the rankings. The latest numbers show that Japan, South Korea, China, the United States, and Germany are the top five countries from which to source talent.
If you’re not yet looking globally, you may want to adjust your hiring practices to bring in international workers. The brightest minds could be in your town, but likely, they’re somewhere out there waiting for the best offer. Yes, hiring people from other countries means becoming familiar with international laws and adhering to visa regulations. However, the results could be well worth the upfront hassle and expense.
The ocean of global tech workers is stocked with impressive talent. When you can see the world as your limit, you move from your local pool or lake to a diverse, seemingly unending supply of qualified candidates to choose from.
2. Choose Your DEI Stance Without Political Inclinations
The transition from the Biden to the Trump Administration has impacted diversity, ethnicity, and inclusivity (DEI) initiatives across the country. While your company might not have government funding anymore, that doesn’t mean you must eliminate the positive changes you’ve seen.
Instead, reducing the social pressure for forced initiatives can mean adjusting your policies to create an inclusive workspace that works for your team. Years of research have shown that the tech sector thrives with diversity, which fosters innovation, creativity, and new perspectives.
Avoiding stances based on the political party of the time allows you to develop DEI policies that withstand the times. In the tech field, this strategy ensures your teams are more likely to have problem-solving, decision-making, and other valuable skills, as well as loyalty, productivity, and job satisfaction.
3. Adapt Your Hiring Procedures to Stay With the Times
As the OG marketplace, Craigslist is well-known to almost everyone. However, we’ve also seen how this original job board disappeared when it could no longer stay relevant and compete with up-and-coming platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook Marketplace.
Are your hiring procedures flexible enough to keep up with the trends, or are you still using old-school Craigslist principles in your search for tech talent? With so many AI and machine learning platforms on the rise, there’s no need to waste resources using obsolete hiring practices.
The reality is that the 2020 pandemic changed how job applicants look for work, what they expect from employers, and how companies source talent. Indeed is still a thing, as is Craigslist, but most tech workers are hanging out elsewhere. Obsidi® shares the top five Indeed alternatives for diverse and Black tech professionals in their article here.
The type of candidate you’ll find depends on where you’re “fishing” for them, but it also relates to the kind of work you offer. Today’s tech talent is often open to freelance work, which benefits them and you. Instead of a 40-hour full-time employee, and the requirements of insurance, vacation, and PTO that come with that role, freelance workers come and go as they please, working the hours they choose as long as their deadlines are met.
Contract workers minimize the cost of onboarding for employers and reduce overhead. Having access to a wide pool of these workers allows your company to go to a specific person when you need specialized project requirements without having to include an annual salary for that role in your budget.
Keep in mind that these freelance or contract individuals are also a warm pool of candidates if a full-time position in your company opens up. Since they already know your professionalism and values, they may be interested in moving from passive talent to an employee with benefits and stability.
Conclusion
The tech horizon is shifting almost daily, and it’s vital to keep up with the hiring trends. Today’s tech companies must adapt their policies in three key areas: hiring internationally to find the best talent, avoiding political DEI reform to maintain a stable workplace atmosphere, and revising their hiring practices to attract the right people for the job.
