Going into 2022, the IT job market experienced growth unlike other industries. With 4.79 million US tech-sector jobs in 2021, it has exceeded its all-time peak of 4.76 million from March 2020 before the pandemic hit. The number of IT jobs on the market increased every month in 2021, even doubling by August.
Read More: How to Combat the Tech Talent Shortage as an Employer.
Following the hiring freezes of 2020, product innovation, digital transformation and rapid growth in the industry has prompted a surge of tech job openings in 2021; this meant unparalleled demand and competition for talent both on the market and off. While tech adoption and expansion has spiked demand, only 40% of companies hired tech staff in 2020, but 66% planned to add more by the end of 2021.
What impact does the continued tech talent shortage have on the workplace?
By 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the shortage of technical talent will exceed 1.2M. Tech professionals have been bombarded by those in need of talent, and with unemployment for developers below 2%, this only continued to increase in 2022, particularly for specialized technology skill sets.
Moreover, 68% of companies plan to hire up to 50 developers in 2022, showing that there is no slowdown in the demand for tech talent. Companies are continuing to rely on essential technologies, such as cloud-based tools, which 92% of companies say they are increasing.
Among the most in-demand roles, those around DevOps, Cyber, Cloud, Python, Java, Full Stack Development and Data + Analytics are seeing the most demand and have employers concerned.
As demand continues to rise alongside the continued digital transformation, so does turnover now that technical professionals have more options available to them on the job market than ever before, and some are even looking to leave the “Big Tech” companies for greener pastures.
Between skyrocketing salaries and loss of flexibility as workers return to offices, employers are losing talent and spending 50-250% more to bring on new hires. Those that aren’t searching for new roles face the threat of burnout, which 30% of employees say is also feeding into the all-time high of IT staff turnover, as they take on more to compensate for the talent shortage.
All in all, tackling the tech talent shortage is about more than hiring, and in the future, both hiring and retaining talent will become less and less transactional - and more about understanding how to mitigate the gap. Is it time to rethink your requirements and overcome the talent gap creatively?
Check out how you can help overcome the tech talent gap here - either as a tech leader, job seeker and IT professional.
For more trends and insights still valid in today's world from the 2022 Tech Salary Guide, download the guide below.
