2023 is quickly approaching and at Fetcha, we’re already clamping down on some of the challenges yet to come. 2022 has been a strong year for us, coming into the market and providing employers a wealth of hungry job seekers, each looking for their dream role. 2023 will be no different in terms of what’s on the horizon, but the challenges faced by technology and cloud recruiters will differ slightly to 2022.
In this article, we’ll shine a light on the top 5 challenges that we predict will have the greatest impact on recruitment in the IT space throughout 2023.
No.1 - A lack of competetive job applicants
Whilst we continue to see a rise in specialist role availability, we also see the point where job roles become so specialised, the market lacks the necessary skilled individuals to perform the tasks. Many companies know exactly what skills they need and are building job openings on very specialised requirements. This closes the opportunities to many who lack experience, necessary technical knowledge or years ‘in the field’.
To help solve this, we see more and more businesses training internally and restructuring current employees to take over more specialised work, then hiring in replacements at a lower level to take over existing workloads. This is a challenge that will have a huge positive on the training market, as we know they’ll be an influx in training needs and specialist AWS accreditations.
No.2 - Job advertisements taking a turn for the worst
On the opposite end of our first point comes the demise of a good quality ad. We’ve seen it ourselves as we look at new clients existing job descriptions and what they use to build interest and receive more CVs. Now, they’re not all bad, we promise. But what we notice is the high level of ambiguous and inadequate descriptions that poorly detail what the job involves, what experience and skills are needed from an applicant and so on.
Now it can be difficult, writing up a great job description, one that encapsulates your business, culture and the job opening. But we cannot stress enough how important this step is. An ambiguous writeup tells more experienced job seekers that you’re not sure what the new hire would actually be doing, often promoting an influx in less experienced applicants.
So what’s the solution? Building distinct branding guideline and templates for new roles. It’s well worth working with an experienced HR writer to get a good template and structure perfected. You can then use this to make sure that all new ads are to a high standard, present your business in a fresh light, and are accurate in what you need from an applicant.
No.3 – Localised talent drop
Since COVID-19, remote working has become a more common practice, as businesses have began to trust their teams to work more hybrid. Whilst not an issue to most workforces, this has caused a drop in quality hires that are local to businesses and are able to be in the office when needed. There is a constant debate as to whether it’s ‘the same’ to work from home than in the office. We have our thoughts on both sides of the battle, but we do see the value in the ability to have teams present, in person, especially when collaborating on new projects or troubleshooting. As the demand for the specialist roles increases, it’s unlikely that the local talent troubles will diminish as more and more workers will be based many miles away from company offices.
The real solution would be for companies to massively boost internal training, workshops and facilitate academies, where they can focus on local talent and build people up with the necessary skills and project experience that can make them valuable assets. This is a bit of a stretch though, as the setup cost and resource needed would be significant.
No.4 – Retaining quality hires
Businesses still continue to neglect their best staff. Just reading that sentence is a scary thought. Now this isn’t across the board, of course, but there is a major problem in how businesses assess, reward and scale their best employees. Skilled workers tend to have a very good awareness of their worth, so companies need to be more proactive in rewarding and maintaining expectations. We see it time and time again, a business fails to reward, promote or value an integral employee, so the employee looks for a new role where they can grow (and usually earn more in the process).
What should you be doing? Take an immediate step back and look at the value your team brings. You should be able to look at individual salaries and the work they have done across a set period of time. Work out the value add, then look at salary comparisons for the role and area you’re established in. With this data, you can quickly build a way for your team to scale in their roles, building loyalty with proper compensation for time and efforts.
No.5 – Poor candidate experience and recruitment process
What do candidates say about your recruitment process? Research shows, time and time again, that a bad experience during the recruitment process leads to negative reviews from applicants. You should be avoiding negative reviews and feedback during this stage, instead focusing on a smooth onboarding process that matches a competent hiring process.
This is where Fetcha provides a way to streamline the recruitment process. We help optimise ad descriptions, criteria for entry and screening processes for all applicants. We ensure your onboarding system is modernised and reinforces a strong first impression for any applicant looking to join your company.
More challenges on the horizon
As we mentioned at the start, these are just 5 of the top challenges we’re looking to help businesses tackle in 2023. We highly recommend reaching out to a specialist recruiter like us, if you’d like to work on minimising the risks and maximising the recruitment successes in the year to come. If you have additional concerns or would like to speak with the team, we are available through our contact form.