Talent scouting gets tougher for tech firms

Technology companies around the world still have a long way to go to ensure continued success, as finding and retaining human resource provides them an enormous challenge, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

“Competition for talent has never been as fierce as it is now. Technology executives must upgrade human capital management in their companies and create innovative programmes in order to attract and retain the best people,” PricewaterhouseCoopers Associate Director Mohinish Sinha says.

Talent war

The technology industry has experienced steady growth in hiring over the past three years, and even a small increase in demand would signal the beginning of another industry talent war, he adds.

In addition to the attrition problems, emerging markets have experienced a rise in tech salaries, which is a direct result of the need for talent, taking their expenditures to higher levels. Technology companies scouting for newer sources of talent have now been forced to look offshore in order to gain access to larger pools of talent, the report says.

However, even this resource is not secure, with European and Asian executives anticipating a severe shortage of talent in the next three years.

Manpower gap

Interestingly, the talent gap is not limited to developed markets, with 41 per cent of all technology companies indicating a difficulty in finding technical talent in emerging markets and 48 per cent reporting difficulty in keeping this talent, it says.

"Technology companies have always had to compete for the best and the brightest, but with an industry boom they are faced with a looming talent shortage. They need a strong drive to succeed, a willingness to learn, collaborate and innovate and the capacity to manage change," Mohinish adds.

Mapping skills

The report provides some evidence that organisations are implementing ways to improve their human capital strategies and looking in-house to better manage their best assets.

The companies, which realise the benefits of managing their in-house talent are using tools such as talent maps to assess their present and future talent needs, worker engagement surveys, and implementing human capital metrics at all levels of the organisation.

As employees are no longer attracted by just the financial benefits of an organisation, they are now demanding innovative and interesting work and a clear view of how their careers would progress.

The report enumerates that 90 per cent of the respondents believe that developing and retaining the existing high performers is very important. — PTI