2022 has been an eventful year worldwide in tech — from mass resignations, to generation Z disrupting the market, to business digitalization and more. What does it mean, and how will it affect your business?
Whether your company practices in-house recruitment or opts for IT outstaffing services it’s important to be on the lookout for the ever-changing workforce trends and get ready for the new year in tech hiring.
Great Shift in 2022
Big Resignation in Big Tech
Numerous enterprise companies have seen at least a third of workers leave their positions in 2022. Some say, the pandemic has shifted people attitude to work and what they value in life. Others think of big resignation as a part of a bigger phenomenon called “Great Reflection”. While businesses contemplate on the reasons, it’s clear that the phenomenon is hitting the tech industry hard. IT people, being the most mobile group of global workforce, are more prone to change. What makes it even more dramatic is that the ones to go are also middle and senior level engineers, who take the niche tech knowledge of data science, cloud, product, or agile development with them. They’re likely to create competition with the FAANG companies, creating new workforce trends, opening vacancies and paving career paths in 2023. With the change already at every business’ door, it might be high time to re-think the perks and benefits and focus on a talent nurturing strategy that matters.
Generational Change
While Generation X and Millennials still constitute a big part of the workforce, talented newcomers from Generation Z (25-year-old and younger) are steadily replacing more senior colleagues and bring in their own vision of a workplace — from demand to digitalization to more flexible work environment. With new workforce trends come new approaches to tech architecture and ideas on how complex products must operate.
Heavy industry companies are now exploring ways to upgrade their tech stacks: they are switching to more modern programming languages to optimize processes. Many of them are upgrading from as far back as native C and native C+ and switching to more efficient languages like Java.
Quiet Quitting
What started as a trend on TikTok in 2022 became a corporate concern worldwide.
2022 brought us Quiet Quitting, the idea of disengaging at work, and not going above and beyond for one’s organization. Younger generation feels no need to be overly enthusiastic at work and would rather focus only on completing their core tasks. They’re also less likely to stay late and not motivated to go to every non-mandatory meeting. According to Gallup, about 50% of the U.S. workforce are “quiet quitters”. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There are areas where businesses could improve and evolve. Meaningful conversations of management with younger colleagues to understand their needs might be a good start, especially when held systematically. The next step could be to empower generation Z with a higher purpose and allow them to make impactful decisions. Now is a great chance for companies to invest into retention programs and re-invent their HR strategy.
Technology workforce trends of 2023
Industry 4.0 & Web 3.0
Industry 4.0 and the fourth industrial revolution bring new technologies in business operations to make them faster and more efficient. While many organizations tend to wonder how Industry 4.0 might impact their business, the change is taking place in various domains — optimization of logistics, autonomous vehicles, AI machine, 3D printing, IoT and the cloud. To make sure you catch the train, it’s worth checking the potential of already working solutions to enhance your HR toolkit.
Web 3.0 technologies like blockchain will affect workforce trends and will be more widely used in HR and recruiting in 2023. For example, Blockchain makes information transparent and publicly available, more “honest”. But what does this have to do with hiring? It will make the verification of candidates more precise. The company will always have access to the unique and up-to-date information about the candidates.
The benefits of cryptocurrency should not be overlooked either. Just imagine: fast, reliable international transfers that are independent of banks and third parties. Instant global cryptocurrency transfers via payroll can provide a significant advantage for a company.
The application of AI in Web 3.0 greatly accelerates and automates many processes in the hiring industry already. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) with proprietary AI algorithms are already saving hundreds of work hours for recruiters, and ensure the search and screening of thousands of tech CVs in little to no time. Things have even gone as far as automated background and reference checks, interactive AI video-interviews and chatbots that answer questions about the vacancies. With a demand for more and more data-driven decisions, AI tools for HR will be among the most useful technology workforce trends.
Low-code — high reward
Many companies use the no-code/low-code approach to make the development trade more accessible to the public. Code templates, special platforms and tools are used to modify low code to suit your needs. There is a variety of low-code and no-code platforms to choose from, whether you need to build a custom/BPM app (Microsoft PowerApps, Google AppSheet, Appian, App Builder, Mendix) or automate your sales and marketing processes (Salesforce Platform, Zoho Creator).
Low-coding accelerates time to market. This greatly speeds up the process of onboarding new developers and might give them the opportunity to make quality contributions to projects right away. It might as well help businesses focus on their core expertise, and use no-code solutions for the tasks out of the core scope.
Of course, the need for more complex code and programmers capable of creating it will not go anywhere. But low-code tools can help engineers quickly create an application, run a test scenario, or solve a generic bug. Sometimes it might pay out investing into no-code solutions to avoid increasing an engineering team outside core expertise.
The low-code market will be growing in 2023 as a result of high-cost of the tech talent and the need for borderless workforce.
The Gen Z Challenge
Despite its youth, Generation Z has entered the tech industry and occupies a rather large niche, influencing workforce trends. But their job expectations are more specific than those of previous generations.
🔓 Honesty is the best policy
Gen Z candidates appreciate clear job descriptions, competitive salaries and explicit hiring timelines. It is common for them to share information, exposing their employers. Keeping things under wraps is no longer an option, they’ve got jobs to get!
📱 A company of culture
In order to be part of a team, Gen Z needs to know how staff communicate among themselves, what are the company’s values and how it all affects the business. This should be clear from the company’s social media profiles, because it’ll be the first place they’ll check. So, before creating a vacancy, it might be a good decision to tidy up the company’s accounts: update the Twitter bio, change the logo on Facebook or even buy Instagram followers to have more clout.
🕔 No more overtime
Gen Z makes it clear that they will not work overtime to finish an “extra-credit” project. They know how to manage their time and appreciate when employers evaluate their work based on results, not on time spent in front of the computer.
🌐 Flexibility is key
Gen Z prefers remote work that gives them the freedom to be in control of their schedule. They are ready to refuse offers that do not include remote options. The flexibility also applies to the career paths, that the new generation prefers to control themselves. Let them pick out a training program and their own pace, and they will move mountains!
🧘 The importance of self-care
The younger generation does not gamble with their health. It is important for Gen Z workers to listen to their bodies and minds. To do this, they need mental health days and stress management tools available at the office (yoga rooms, height-adjustable desks, massage chairs etc.) or in their phones (access to meditation apps, mindful practices subscriptions). All of these benefits will increase loyalty, productivity and, as a result, retention levels at the company.
Solve resignation with nurturing and retention
To avoid the unpleasant surprises of the great resignation or quiet quitting, it is necessary to reconsider the approach to staff retention. Create a hybrid, comfortable working environment with a clear prospect of growth so that developers want to work and grow within your company.
One of technology workforce trends is providing internal mobility to keep employees’ options open. To do that, it’s important to create a transparent environment for the job openings within the company. This way, developers can manage their careers at your company rather than moving on to competitors.
Outstaffing companies might be a great partner to tackle the retention challenge. They have extensive experience in finding, onboarding, and retaining new employees. With the right outstaffing partner, you might reinvent your hiring strategy in advance and keep employee milestones in mind, staff retention will no longer be a challenge.
Interesting Related Article: “A Comprehensive Guide to Contingent Workforce Management“