Filling specialized roles in the tech and engineering sectors has always been challenging, but with the economy opening up and more companies competing for top candidates, it is becoming even tougher to find good employees. A recent report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted that I.T. and Cyber are among the most in-demand roles, while engineering suffers from both an overall talent shortage and difficulties in recruiting candidates with project management experience. [i] Engaging a technical recruiter can be the critical difference in finding the right person for the position, but only under one condition—you let them do their job.
Too often, tech companies think they can handle specialized hiring on their own, thinking that if they list it, the ideal candidate will simply appear. Worse, they may engage a recruiter to find candidates, but not be willing to listen to the feedback their recruiter offers, especially when it runs counter to what they want to hear. No recruiter likes to see their clients waste time with offers that are doomed to fail, but it can and does happen.
When you hire an expert technical recruiter like Integress to conduct a candidate search for you, you get much more than just the time savings of having professionals seek out and prescreen well-matched professionals for your position. You also get the benefit of the insight they’ve gained from working with both candidates and other companies in your industry.
There’s always been more to crafting an attractive offer than salary alone, but the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed the priorities of highly skilled job seekers as well. To attract the top candidates, companies need to be willing to be flexible in their compensation packages and work arrangements. Companies that insist on sticking to what they think candidates want—or must accept—rather than listening to what their recruiter tells them works run a substantial risk of losing out on candidates who have the skills and experience to pick and choose among offers.
Integress can help increase the odds that your search will end in the perfect hire. Our recruitment and interview process, which includes conversations with candidates before and after their interview and negotiations on pay and benefits, gives us a wealth of information on what candidates are seeking that we can pass on to you.
The top issue among candidates in 2021 is remote work. Counter to what employers might think, tech workers aren’t eager to rush back into the office on a full-time basis. Among our placements this year, candidates have accepted positions that either offered them the same amount of remote work as their current job, or positions that offered more. Not one candidate we’ve worked with took a position where remote work wasn’t an option—even when they were offered more money, this stipulation was a deal breaker. After working from home at least part-time for over a year, people have learned that they can be productive working remotely and achieve a better work-life balance, and they’re not willing to give that up.
Another factor making remote work more attractive to employees is the child care crunch. Before the pandemic, many parents reported reducing their hours or leaving work altogether due to the high cost of child care, or having to cut their working hours short to meet child care obligations. [ii] With COVID-19 making the shortage of available child care slots worse nationwide, remote work and flexible hours can be a valuable enticement to prospective hires.
When supply is low and demand is high, you need every advantage you can get in hiring. Integress has the expertise to not only match your company’s needs and culture to the perfect candidate, but also to help you craft the offer that will convince the best engineering and technical candidates to come work for you. To find out more about how we can help streamline your hiring process, contact us here.
[i] https://www.uschamber.com/report/the-america-works-report-industry-perspectives
[ii] https://www.ocregister.com/2021/06/01/cant-find-child-care-the-problem-sucks-4-3-billion-out-of-orange-countys-economy/
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