But most organizations have trouble finding and hiring the development talents that can help them grow. IT workers are now the second hardest group of professionals to recruit. Finding engineers, developers, programmers, DevOps, data analysts, and mobile developers is only going to get harder.
The inability to find or keep talent was identified as the number one threat to companies' growth prospects. It led the employers to seek help outside of Canada. Many companies are not confident they will find people with the skills they need. That’s why, they consider recruiting developers offshore.
Here are the important findings of the KPMG's Business Outlook Poll:
- 79% said the pandemic changed the way they work, and they need more employees with IT skills;
- 69% said they plan to hire more staff over the next three years;
- 24% ranked cyber/information security as the top skill they need to hire;
- 20% ranked data analytics/analysis as the top skill required;
- 68% of businesses said they are having a hard time hiring people with the skill sets they need to grow;
- 52% are not confident they will find people with the skills they need and will consider recruiting outside Canada;
- 89% are investing in developing their workforce’s skills and capabilities.
"Canadian businesses understand the power of technology, and most have been making the necessary investments to digitize their operations", says Mary Jo Fedy, National Enterprise Leader for KPMG in Canada. According to her, the next challenge is ensuring they have the talent to use these new digital tools. While having the right technology is important, it’s only effective if your team possesses the skills to leverage it.
Some Canadian businesses say they can't find employees because applicants lack crucial soft skills, such as dependability, flexibility, and a willingness to learn. It can make a labor shortage even worse in the long run, as businesses say those soft skills prove more valuable than hard skills in a post-pandemic world.
Now, candidates who match all the above criteria realize they are top talents and request quite high salaries. Thus, companies often have to pay more to get such candidates onboard.
According to RBC’s analysis, employers were actively looking for more creative soft skills in job postings between the first quarters of 2020 and 2021. Today, organizations are willing to invest in new hires. Some companies are ready to train, coach, and mentor people who possess valuable soft skills, such as creativity and a willingness to learn. In return, they expect that employees who possess those soft skills will keep them and then return the investment.
The lack of tech talent also results in an 8-12 week (or more) hiring process for companies, based on a Glassdoor study by Dr. Andrew Chamberlain. The talent shortage and the laws of economics have also meant that tech salaries for top roles have grown substantially and that companies often have to pay more for top developer talent. Based on that, Canadian companies are now more open to working with outside parties to digitize their businesses.
Technology in the world has grown exponentially over the past few years and is expected to keep growing. The world has moved towards an economy that heavily relies on technology. The competition for digitally skilled talent is accelerating globally. It may seem that prominent developers are impossible to locate or that they are never actually on the market as they do not need to be. Talents do not apply for jobs and often have so many recruiters hot on their heels that they can choose the perfect role.
At UUUSoftware, we have been placing hundreds of engineers across various Canadian and US companies for over 14 years. We know the market specifics and are happy to share our expertise with you. We know the market specifics and are happy to share our expertise with you.
In our next article, we will share our recommendations on what employers should do in this seemingly impossible scenario. Follow us to learn more.