In today’s candidate-focused market, one-third of tech employers, 32%, would offer a 10% to 15% salary increase in order to attract top talent, according to a new report, "Tech Trends: IT Leaders and the Employment Market," released by Modis, an information technology staffing division of Adecco SA.
The survey of 500 IT professionals responsible for key decisions including hiring within their organizations found that 35% would also rehire talent who had previously left the company three months before, and 33% would re-hire no matter how long ago the talent left.
“With the tech sector unemployment rate at 2.6%, the pool of available and skilled talent is smaller than ever,” said Modis President Jack Cullen. “Nearly two-thirds of tech employers are open to offering currently employed candidates a 6-15% increase to their current salary to attract the cream of the crop. Today's employers need to be open to negotiation and today's candidates need to be prepared to negotiate.”
Key insights from the report include:
- 26.4% of respondents said salary is the most important benefit for attracting talent, while 42.8% said a flat corporate structure is the least important benefit.
- 63% of respondents agreed that tech workers are more concerned about salary and total compensation than the stability and longevity of the company.
- Regarding salary, most respondents felt tech workers expected a market average (49%) or above average (42%) salary.
- Team work and interpersonal skills was ranked as the most difficult soft skill to find in tech candidates (31%), while security and infrastructure ranked as the hardest to find hard skill (22%).
- When hiring candidates who are employed, most respondents offer an average salary increase between 6-9% (33%) and 10-15% (32%).
- 41% of respondents said age is the biggest challenge to diversity in tech industry; 28% said gender, and 21% said ethnicity.
- A majority of respondents are open to rehiring top performers who have left, with only 12% saying they would not rehire.
- Respondents were more concerned with the quality of a schooling institution than its online/offline nature (27%), and viewed online and offline degrees equally (20%).
- Chicago is the top-ranked future tech hotspot (51%); Omaha is the lowest (10%).
- 46% of respondents said artificial intelligence has the potential to make the biggest impact, and only 12% said AR/augmented reality does.
- 40% of respondents said external threats were the biggest threats to their company.
Allison+Partners Research + Insights team surveyed 500 individuals who identified as IT decision makers, responsible for key decision including hiring within their organizations. The survey was conducted between Aug. 1 and Aug. 9, 2016.
