Tech Trends: Employers Offering Higher Salaries
The lack of skilled IT workers is hurting the deployment of emerging technology, according to a new survey from Gartner. In areas from cloud to cybersecurity, this crisis is expected to last for years to come.
IT staffing company Modis surveyed
500 IT professionals responsible for key decisions, including hiring, between
August 1 and August 9, 2016. The research, Tech Trends: IT Leaders and the
Employment Market, shows that approximately 32 percent of IT organizations are
willing to offer a 10 percent to 15 percent salary increase to currently
employed IT professionals in an effort to attract elite talent.
The New World Order
"This research
validates that this is the "new world order" for companies; to get
the right talent, they're going to have to pay for it. And they won't be able
to keep the talent they do have when the market's paying 10 percent to 15
percent more. Today's employers need to be open to negotiation and today's
candidates need to be willing to negotiate," says Jack Cullen, president
of Modis.
While 26.4 percent of
respondents say salary is the most important benefit for attracting talent,
salary alone won't keep organizations competitive, according to the research.
Candidates also are looking for work-life balance and flexibility, as well as
the opportunity to grow and develop in their career, the research shows.
"Companies
are finally listening to what people want and what they need to succeed.
Whether that's the ability to work at home, have flexible hours or perks like
ping pong tables or Friday happy hours. Companies also are realizing that candidates
aren't just looking at the current role, but what the next step is in their
career evolution, so they're making investments in that area, too," Cullen
says.
IT
and tech leaders also believe that employees highly value the ability to
innovate and create new products, projects or ideas (21.6 percent) as well as
having upward mobility in their career (22.6 percent), so employers are keen to
provide these opportunities to potential talent, Cullen says.
And
if you're an IT professional specializing in areas like cybersecurity, expect
to see an even greater salary bump, according to the research.
Stressing
About Security
Cybersecurity
and privacy are the top concerns keeping IT decision-makers up at night, with
45.2 percent saying they're the most important issues facing their
organization; about 40 percent say external threats were their biggest security
concern. Research also shows that, despite these concerns, 22 percent of
respondents say security and infrastructure skills are the hardest to find.
"How can you put a price tag on securing your organization,
especially when there's a major shortage of these skills? We're seeing huge
premiums being offered to professionals who can bring those cybersecurity
skills to the table; as well as being able to balance that security and privacy
with accessibility and ease-of-use, especially on mobile devices," Cullen
says.
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