In a jobs market where unemployment is at the lowest since records began and where there are expected to be 800,000 technology vacancies by 2020. Nearly 40% of UK technology workers will look for a new job in 2019. What does this look like for your business when the requirement for tech skills has never been higher? What can you do to attract technologists to your organisation?

Already this year, I’ve spoken to a few organisations keen to increase the size of the talent pools available to them. Some have been convinced that every avenue open to them has been utilised, whilst others have accepted that recruiting technical talent will always be a headache. My frequent response is, “what are you doing to attract and reach out to candidates that aren’t looking for a new role or don’t know about you?” In short, how are you reaching ‘unseen candidates’?

Nearly 40% of technology workers in the UK expect to find a new job in 2019. What will that look like for your business?

The Wider Context

The UK currently has the highest records of workers in employment since records began. The UK Tech Sector is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the economy with the UK cementing its position as a global leader.

In over 80% of tech clusters, the tech community cited access to talent as their single biggest challenge. From 2014-2017, the employment rate within UK tech grew by nearly 15%.

The skills shortage is a growing concern for employers who will seek specialised technology resource to fill these gaps. This will create added pressure on hiring managers as competition to secure the best talent remains fierce.

Why is technology talent joining your organisation?

According to Harvard Business Review: “Nearly half of the people we surveyed would entirely rule out taking a job with a company that exhibited the top three negative employer brand factors, regardless of any pay increase. Even a 10% raise would only tempt 28% of them to join such a company.”

Over 90% of candidates review at least one resource to evaluate an employer’s brand before applying for a role and women are 25% more likely than men to seek out reviews before putting their CV forward.

In a skill short market, your employer brand will play a major part in the size of the talent pool available for you to select from. Constructing an effective and authentic brand can make the difference between an A* candidate choosing to apply for you or a competitor. Who you trust to project and build your brand is essential.

A couple of tips to get you started…

1)     Be aware of your current brand reputation – What are people saying about you? Check Glassdoor, Google, and social media. You may be surprised at the difference between reality and perception. Lorien conduct competitor analysis for all of our clients, this report will show you who you are losing talent to and how your brand stacks up against the opposition.

2)     Be authentic – Be true to yourself, a lot of hiring managers I speak to are often baffled that candidates aren’t aware of how great their environment is. If you work in a great culture, you are often only aware of how great it is because you are already working within it. How would an external candidate find out how good your culture is? Lorien create candidate packs to reflect your environment in addition to network events that show talent pools how great it is to work for your company.

3)     Look to the future – Consider current talent shortages and where your future talent is coming from. Do you have strong connections with the education sector to enable a flow of your next superstars? Are you fully utilising your apprenticeship levy to upskill? Lorien can consult with you in how best to utilise your levy pool in addition to ensuring you are attractive to future talent.

Lorien have over 40 years’ experience in providing market-leading recruitment solutions including employer branding. If you would like to find out more about building your employer brand, please contact me at [email protected].