Bridging the Tech Talent Gap

60% of businesses that believe their reliance on specialist digital skills is only set to increase over the next five years… but with the tech and digital skill gap widening, the need to bridge that gap remains to be an immediate priority.

I was lucky enough to attend he ‘Finding Time for the Future’ talk held by Apadmi this month, were they hosted keynote speakers Tom Cheesewright, and a panel of Denise Maskew, Stuart Jones, and Phil Neilson for an in-depth exploration and discussion around how businesses can best future proof themselves. 

With technology enabling us to progress quicker than ever before, Tom gave some insight into what futurism is and how we should be looking to plan further ahead to reach goals quicker, using constantly evolving technology.

Denise, Stuart and Phil also added to the discussion by sharing ways in which they have planned for their businesses in the face of the digital skills shortage, and the growing need to plan with confidence, and remain agile.

Here are my four key takeaways on closing the talent gap in tech.

1 – Open AI and Low- / No-Code Future

Will this replace the need for specialist developers in these roles? Low-code and no-code trends have rapidly risen over the pandemic to fill the need for digital transformation amidst limited developer availability. Companies are now turning to low-code and no-code solutions to rectify the imbalance between the ever-growing demand for software development and the shortage of skilled developers currently in the market.
Whilst there will always be a need for skilled developers, but using low- and no-code platforms will reduce the recruitment stress and pressure on hiring managers as we democratise coding by making it more accessible to more people with a lower natural aptitude for programming. This naturally opens up the pool to a wider variety of talent.

2 – Diverse Hiring & Widening the Talent Pool

Directly competing with businesses who are hiring for the same talent will automatically increase your hiring costs. Therefore, it’s important to think out of the box and follow different recruitment methods. One way to do this is focus on returners to the workplace (people that have taken time out for travelling, family, or a career shift), graduates who are passionate about tech but have no formal experience, and apprentices who show promise and the right attitude but haven’t broken into the space yet. This is a great way to widen your talent pool and bring diverse talent into the business you can develop and grow internally with your business.

3 – Promote Internally 

Before looking externally, you should ask yourself if there is anybody within the business already that would like to be moved into the open role, or could be developed and mentored to grow into the role. This is much cheaper than hiring and also builds employee satisfaction and morale as they feel like their work and progression is valued by the company.

The external hiring process can get expensive. In fact, some estimates report that it costs a business an average of six to nine months’ salary every time they replace a salaried employee when factoring in advertising the position, sourcing candidates, interviewing, and background checks. Much more of the expense is tied to time. Time and monetary expenditure doesn’t stop when you hire externally either – there is onboarding and training to take into account. 

Essentially promoting from within can save time and money, whilst helping with staff retention and motivation by providing clear and visible internal mobility.

4 – Partner with a Great Tech Agency 

Finally partnering with an agency who has an in depth knowledge of the market, current and predicted trends, and who aligns with your culture and values can help you deliver top talent to drive completion on  business critical projects. A specialist agency will have an affluent network on great candidates they can connect with your business, and guide you through the recruitment process, alleviating some of the burden.

For this reason, Apadmi partnered exclusively with Maxwell Bond for their Product and UX recruitment.

Maxwell Bond are the specialist tech and digital recruitment partner of choice across the UK for award winning perm and contract staffing solutions. We work exclusively with leading businesses as onsite or offsite talent partners to deliver top tech and digital talent across all levels. We have proven results in reducing time to hire and improving candidate attraction and generation.

As well as industry leading solutions which have helped the likes of Cinch, Apadmi, and Trafford City Council hire top tech talent, we also provide clients with free access to our tech and digital ecosystem which includes tech events, roundtables, salary reports, bespoke market reports, industry insights, D&I coaching, IR35 legal guidance, whitepapers, and podcasts.

To stay ahead of the curve, get in touch today to find out more about how Maxwell Bond can support your growth ambitions and help you hit expansion targets.