Tech recruitment trends in a candidate-driven market

As companies continue to embrace flexible working, the tech recruitment landscape has shifted from one seeking IT support, to one focused on futureproofing. With many companies now set up for remote working, businesses have an opportunity to widen their talent pool and address the industry’s widening skills shortage.

Amidst the global cost-of-living crisis, for companies to engage with top talent, they need to listen to what tech candidates want from a role, meet their salary expectations, and offer benefits that will ease the pinch.

CWJobs’ latest report outlines the latest trends in tech recruitment and provides insights into how employers can attract and retain tech workers. Here are some of the key takeaways from this latest edition.

Tech skills shortages are becoming increasingly visible

According to Tech Nation’s People and Skills Report 2022, there were over 2 million vacancies for tech roles between May 2021 and May 2022. However, despite UK tech salaries being 80% higher, on average, research from Robert Half finds that 72% of tech teams report a crippling skills shortage.

Similarly, Coursera’s recent Global Skills Report reveals that despite the UK being the third largest market for technology, it’s lagging far behind when it comes to workforce development.

Of course, this skills shortage isn’t new, however, with today’s global cost-of-living crisis, tech recruiters are facing a significant challenge to attract skilled workers.

To tap into a wider talent pool, an increasing number of recruiters are using tools like Equality Boost that can pinpoint when, where and how to reach talent by demographic, location and interest.

CWJobs’ Instant Candidate Recommender algorithm can also help increase applications by suggesting highly relevant and active candidates based on their skills and match to a role. Likewise, smart tools such as CWJobs’ video recruitment tool can help boost response rates through personalised video messaging.

Increasing demand for software development and infrastructure

According to data from Adzuna and Tech Nation, UK tech job opportunities are at a 10-year high with around 870,000 tech and digital job vacancies being advertised between January and May 2022.

CWJobs’ internal insights reveal that the top three sub-disciplines posted on our platform in 2022 were Software Development, Support, and Infrastructure. Demand for Software Development and Infrastructure both increased from last year, whereas demand for IT Support decreased. Other top job postings include Database, Web Development and Architecture.

We might conclude that demand for IT support has reduced as more companies are now set up for remote working and focusing on hiring for key skills that help them grow their business and remain competitive.

Robert Half’s research also reveals that the hardest roles to hire for are Architecture, Leadership, and Cloud & Infrastructure. Despite the challenge, these hard-to-fill roles present employers with an opportunity to upskill, or retrain staff in these areas. In turn, this will ensure that companies have the right skills to meet demand, and remain competitive in a candidate-driven market.

Continued demand for programmer and developer roles

As with last year, the most commonly posted roles overall on CWJobs in the first half of 2022 were Java Developer, .NET Developer, Business Analyst, and DevOps Engineer, demonstrating that programmers and developers are still in high demand. As an increasing number of companies continue to embrace digital innovation, we’d expect to see this trend continue into the future.

By comparison, the top applied for roles on our platform were Business Analyst, Scrum Engineer, Project Manager, and .NET Developer. IT Support Engineer was tenth on the list of the top applied roles, whereas last year, it was the second most applied for role.

To attract top programmers and developers, companies need to develop a strong employer brand. Employers need to invest time and money into being more creative and imaginative with their brand and how they communicate their values to candidates.

Kimberley Cook, Freelance Software Engineer and Director at Codebar says: “In my experience, people in tech always have one eye open looking for new opportunities. Another company may pay more, offer flexible time, unlimited holidays etc. Most developers feel they stop learning after a while, so moving companies allow them to continue learning and learn a new technology or stack. Allow your team members time to learn and expand their knowledge.”

Tech workers have high salary expectations

CWJobs’ Confidence Index 2022 reveals that 53% of tech workers expect their salary to increase over the next 12 months. Consequently, 23% of senior leaders are planning to increase the number of pay rises in the next 12 months, and nearly a third (30%) also plan to offer pay increases to help combat the rising cost of living.

To retain tech talent, companies need to acknowledge employee financial pressures and support their wellbeing by offering financial incentives in addition to a competitive salary. By gathering feedback and listening to employees, companies can tailor their benefits packages to suit the needs of their workforce.

As people become more aware of their financial outgoings, daily commutes are now something that also need to be taken into consideration when applying for roles. CWJobs research finds that the commute is an important factor for 85% of people when looking for a job. Our Candidate Commute Time feature can help increase the number of applications per visit by 90%.

At CWJobs, 36% of the jobs posted on our platform in the first half of 2022 were for high salary roles of over £90k – a 7% increase since last year. Likewise, our conversion rate of visits to applications has been consistently high throughout the second quarter of 2022 with an average of 43%. This is an increase of 8% from the same period last year.

CWJobs’ latest report, Tech Hiring Insider provides more valuable insights, data, and industry views on how to attract and retain the best tech talent. It contains information on the tech job market, job postings and application trends, as well as client and industry body case studies.

Download our latest Tech Hiring Insider report, here.

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