Tech Companies Cannot Find Enough Workers to Fill Jobs
- Author: Jeffrey Simmons
- Posted: 2024-03-18
The Very Bright Tech Jobs Picture
As the job market strength shows no sign of abating, technology job postings are on the rise in 2019. In the first half of the year, job listings in the field are up by nearly one third. However, the supply of workers has not increased to meet demand. In fact, companies are struggling to fill positions and have had difficulty adding workers at the rate they need it. This has impacted tech companies' ability to grow both in the present and future and leaves them without the certainty of a deep talent pool. These companies have had to resort to extreme incentives and measures to outdo their competitors in the race for employees.
Technology workers have every incentive to change jobs with relative frequency because their earnings go up practically every time that they switch positions. Employees who change jobs periodically tend to have higher earnings than those who remain with one company for a long time. As a result, information technology employers are squeezed, both trying to retain their employees and find new ones.
Companies in Every Market Cannot Find Workers
Companies in all technology hubs are reporting the same experience. For example, Buffalo technology companies have reported similar difficulties. These struggles have long been common in large technology hubs like San Francisco and Seattle where workers can seemingly name their price. Silicon Valley companies report a shortage of workers with record low unemployment rates. The dearth of workers threatens the future economic growth of the area as companies go for a long time with jobs unfilled.
Now, the issues are spreading to emerging tech hubs. In Raleigh, which is rapidly becoming a technology destination, 63 percent of hiring managers want to add more talent. However, thousands of tech jobs in Raleigh are going unfilled because the talent simply is not there. Unemployment rates in certain subsets of the technology sector in Raleigh are as low as one-tenth of one percent. There is little that companies can do besides make quick hiring decisions and pay top dollar for their hires. Companies are also at the mercy of their existing employees who know how difficult it would be for their employers to fill their positions if they left.
The Problems Reach Every Sector
Anecdotally, the technology industry is not the only one that is having difficulty finding enough workers. Manufacturing is also laboring to find enough employees and jobs are taking longer to fill as candidates have their pick of multiple jobs.
Further, there is an overlap between the tech job shortage and scarcity in other industries. Practically all industries are incorporating technology in some ways and can be thought of as a technology industry. Even traditional companies need workers in their technology areas and, as technology becomes more complicated, the job descriptions of these new positions go far beyond that of the traditional IT professional. These companies compete in the same pool as technology companies and struggle to attract workers without the glitz that the tech companies have.
All of this adds up to a situation where workers are seemingly in control of the employment picture. Savvy employees can exploit the worker shortage to raise their pay and improve their job prospects. They can not only increase their pay but can also move to jobs with a higher level of responsibility because the companies have limited choices when it comes to hiring. All it takes is some training in the field and steady employment history and workers will be easily able to find new positions. Even workers looking to redirect into a new area will find opportunities if they have the proper certifications. This will continue so long as the U.S. economy stays out of recession and the overall jobs picture appears bright. Accordingly, if you are a tech worker, both the present and the future look bright in terms of your job prospects.
