Tech leaders seek more employees with technical skills, survey says

Dive Brief:

Tech leaders are having trouble finding enough workers to meet their standards, as 80% said they need more employees with technical skills and 75% said it’s difficult to find candidates with the right skills and abilities, according to a survey published Oct. 13 by the Consumer Technology Association. The most in-demand technical skills named in the survey were data analytics, software development and project management.
In their quest to find skilled workers, companies are looking for creative ways to expand candidate pools. Nearly a quarter of tech employers said they are looking to hire from "train-to-hire programs such as apprenticeships and bootcamps" and 58% do not require a college degree for employment.
The leaders surveyed also indicated a rising emphasis on inclusion and flexibility. Eighty percent said they will conduct more job interviews remotely, 65% said they will hire more employees to work remotely, and 86% said they have at least one current or planned D&I initiative at their organization.

Dive Insight:

Skills gaps appear to be a challenge for all kinds of employers, as tech companies and small businesses report shortages for their skilled talent needs. These gaps affect all levels of workers, according to a survey by staffing firm TrueBlue. And a recent Gartner study noted the dire state of abilities, with just 16% of new hires having the skills needed for their job and the research firm concluding that "[e]xisting roles may require up to 10 new skills by 2021."

Workers are also feeling the pinch of skills gaps, fearing that their skills are obsolete, and that they do not know what kinds of jobs they would pursue in the event of layoffs.

Employers are tackling this problem on many fronts. Opening up pipelines for diverse talent is a way to find new employees who may not have previously applied or been interested in a particular role. Improving culture and diversity hiring initiatives is one way to do that, as is expanding the scope of virtual interviewing and remote-friendly roles. When internal candidates with specific skills can’t be found for open roles, employers such as PwC and Lincoln Financial have turned to large-scale internal upskilling initiatives. "You can't hire your way out of this," Mike Fenlon, chief people officer at PwC U.S., previously told HR Dive.

Another way some larger employers are approaching the skills gap is by offering skill development and training to the general public, hoping it will benefit knowledge of their tech ecosystem and improve digital literacy around the country.