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The tech industry showed extreme uncertainty in the year 2022, as millions of tech workers were sacked. And it seems like the layoffs are still on in the tech world. One hundred and sixty-eight thousand workers have already been laid off in the first few months of 2023 alone, seeing one of the biggest spikes ever, as the number of layoffs was more than the previous two years combined.
This nudged job seekers to look at opportunities outside the tech industry, which came as great news to non-tech companies.
While in the past the big tech brands had dibs on the best tech talent universities produced, it is not the case anymore. In 2023, every company became a tech company as there was a drastic shift to a digital mode of operation. This triggered the demand for tech talent, resulting in a huge rise in tech hiring.
Grasp the preferences of techies!
Tech recruitment in non-tech industries saw a steep hike earlier this year, totaling over 1 lakh openings. Having said that, it is not an easy feat to win top tech talent. Having a mere open position is not going to attract tech individuals.
To attract, engage, and recruit top tech talent, you must modify your talent sourcing and recruitment strategies. Remember, these are tech individuals. Their experience in a tech company would have been a lot more rewarding. You must be able to convince them to work for you. To do that, you need to
- Be data-driven.
- Understand what they expect from work.
- Highlight how you can fulfill their needs.
- Proactively communicate the rewards of stepping away from tech.
Posting and praying will not work here. You need to have a more aggressive approach if you want the best tech talent working for your organization.
Start by-
- Refining your talent brand with value propositions that inspire them.
- Strengthening outbound recruiting with targeted campaigns
- Leverage data to recruit better and faster.
Create a brand that resonates with tech professionals.
Attracting tech talent is a challenge that extends beyond traditional technology companies. Many non-tech companies are recognizing the importance of integrating technology into their operations to stay competitive and innovative.
Source: The Economic Times
As a non-tech company, its essential to differentiate your brand and adjust your employee value proposition if you want your message to resonate with the needs of the tech candidates.
Showcase Technological Innovation
FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) may still be the gold standard for tech talent when it comes to looking for jobs. But the layoffs in the past year have led tech talent to optimistically consider others. This is good news. But attracting these job seekers may be a challenge.
How do you go about this? You are a non-tech company eyeing tech talent. So, we suggest you lead by highlighting your efforts in adopting and leveraging innovative technologies. This could include showcasing projects that involve AI, data analytics, IoT, and automation to demonstrate their commitment to innovation.
Offer Career Advancement Opportunities
According to McKinsey, career development is considered one of the top factors among tech workers when deciding whether to accept a new job or stay in their current one. If a tech worker is considering stepping away from their tech company and joining a non-tech company, they would need reassurance that they will be able to keep up with the trending changes and industry’s best practices.
How can you set this in motion?
- Support for on-the-job training
- Form employee networks to help skilled workers help peers learn new skills.
- Offer opportunities for employees to take up distinct roles, join other teams to learn from a unique perspective.
- Leverage current working employee experience by asking them to explain how they fit so well into their current roles.
Encourage and allow remote, hybrid work and flexible schedules
Post the pandemic, WFH and flexible work schedules became a new normal, and tech companies took to this arrangement in a big way. After working in a hybrid or a remote work model, a majority of people said they had “no interest” or were “not too keen” on returning full-time to the office. When it came to starting a new position, 80% of the full-time tech workers interviewed by McKinsey said they would rather work remotely than move.
Looking at how fondly and willingly people were taking to remote work, McKinsey researchers dug a bit deeper to find that the company’s willingness to work around employees’ needs was extremely popular among specific demographics. It was found that women and other gender workers in the 35-54 and 55-64 age groups prioritized positions that allowed them flexibility.
McKinsey further suggested that if you are a company looking to launch remote or hybrid work models-
- Invest in tools like messaging platforms, videoconferencing, etc.
- Turn to cloud-based apps to allow remote workers to join meetings and discussions.
- Communicate and reinforce company culture within the office and find ways to translate it into digital transactions.
Look for other innovative, appealing ways to compensate workers
Tech companies are generally huge on compensation. Competing with these standards can get quite challenging for non-tech companies. CBRE found that the tech industry offered wages 16% above the national average. With the economic uncertainty around the globe, workers are not likely to accept a pay cut in exchange for rewards.
The only way around this is to offer competitive compensation, i.e., if you are hoping to attract the best tech talent to your company, especially if you are hiring in AI/ML, data science, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. Of course, tech companies already offer attractive compensation packages that extend beyond the paycheck. But in the uncertain market, even this does not seem to suffice.
To work around this challenge, offer perks like
- Health insurance and PTO/vacation days
- Contribute to employee insurance premiums
- Switch to an unlimited PTO policy
- Paid parental leave
- Childcare benefits, fertility assistance, etc
The list can go on. You just have to be mindful of what workers are seeking beyond their paycheck.
Refine company culture and values
Every employee wants to feel like they are making a direct impact and moving toward the grand goals of the organization. Refining your outbound messaging is a great way to make an impact on tech candidates. For example, are many businesses relying on your systems? Are your products being used in more than 80% of the places? These are details that get big-picture thinkers excited and push them toward making a difference.
To see through this,
- Dedicate recruiting communications and interactions to discussing the company’s mission.
- Consider reframing departmental goals into “mission statements.”
Make sure to display your company’s stability and consistency
The tech layoff scene was baffling for everyone. Workers who were affected due to the same were likely to want something less risky for their next position.
If you were one of the companies that did not perform any layoffs, or if you made it through with minimal workforce disruptions, highlight it. The promise of having a secure job can help you balance out places where you fail to meet industry standards.
Actively enforce outbound recruiting
Starting and ending with the right messaging is the key to recruiting the right digital talent. A rich culture and competitive benefits are, of course, what workers look for. But how you communicate it to potential employees is where you win the battle.
Research suggests that nearly 8 in 10 laid-off tech workers find a new position within three months. That is an indication of the competitiveness that prevails in tech hiring. You have no choice but to invest in marketing and outreach materials.
To build quality pipelines and reduce time to hire-
- Automate your workflows
- Use tokens from prospect profiles for personalization at scale and build candidate lists, and segment your talent pools
- Build sequences to communicate your employer brand
Engage, assess, and hire
It can be intimidating for non-tech companies to hire tech talent. But if you have the right tools in place, it is a lot easier. By building a faster, fairer, and more flexible hiring process coupled with automation and structure, you can attract your desired tech candidates with ease.
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Rajkumar Shanmugam
Rajkumar Shanmugam is the Head of HR at ALP Consulting, bringing over 19 years of comprehensive HR leadership experience across India and international markets. His expertise spans talent acquisition, employee relations, performance management, compliance, and HR transformation. Rajkumar has a proven track record of driving people-centric initiatives, enhancing workplace culture, and aligning HR strategy with business goals. With extensive experience in US staffing operations and global mobility, he continues to lead organizational excellence through innovation and employee engagement.
