State of the Global IT Labor Shortage
Businesses of all sizes and industries have difficulty hiring and retaining workers Amid “The Great Resignation.” The situation has led to the tightest labor market the U.S. has seen in decades. Some sectors, however, are having a more challenging time than others—and the tech industry is one of them.
The technology, software, and IT sector is growing rapidly, as new advancements are being made and embraced every day. However, there is a significant IT labor shortage not just in America but around the globe.
Read More: Find Out the Top 7 Sectors Suffering Labor Shortage Due to ‘The Great Resignation’
Growing Demand, Dwindling Workforce
The tech industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in America, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting that software development, technology, and IT jobs will experience a 22% to 32% growth through 2022 and beyond. Employment in this industry is also expected to increase by 13% until 2030.
To illustrate just how in-demand technology roles are, software engineers alone receive at least 5 to 10 job offers on LinkedIn. However, as the demand for technology and IT services grows, the talent pipeline for skilled tech workers is drying up. As such, the tech industry became one of the sectors most affected by “The Great Resignation” in the U.S.
Read more: Where To Find and How To Recruit Untapped Workforce Amid ‘The Great Resignation’
The IT Worker Shortage Felt Around the World
“The Great Resignation” isn’t a problem that only American tech businesses are facing. Globally, only 29% of IT and tech workers want to stay with their current employer. The continents facing the worst IT labor shortages include Asia (19.6%), Australia (23.6%), and Latin America (26.9%). In Europe, the best-performing region when it comes to tech worker attrition, only 38.8% plan to stay.
Cloudflare, an infrastructure and website security company that employs thousands of workers globally, is one example of a corporation navigating the effects of the IT labor crisis. According to Janet Van Huysse, the senior vice president of Cloudflare, their IT organization accounted for 30% of all their terminations, many of which were voluntary resignations.
What Is Driving the Current IT Labor Shortage?
Pandemic Burnout
One of the main reasons for the IT labor shortage is pandemic burnout. According to research shared by Forbes, workplace changes caused by COVID-19 drove many tech and IT workers to re-evaluate their chosen career paths, with 78% of them saying they plan to quit their existing job soon.
The same study found that the top reasons why IT employees choose to quit are:
- Limited career progression and opportunities – 41%
- Lack of flexibility in working hours – 40%
- Toxic work environments – 39%
- Not feeling appreciated by the employer – 37%
- Inadequate management – 32%
More than half of all IT employees (58%) said they experienced significant stress and burnout. Of those who suffer from burnout, the majority (89%) wanted to leave their current role.
Lack of Skilled Talents
The biggest challenge faced by the tech industry and one reason for the IT worker shortage is the lack of skilled talents needed to meet consumer demand. According to one Gartner study, 64% of IT executives say that the talent shortage is the barrier keeping them from adopting emerging technologies.
Since tech is a highly specialized field, the demand for workers exceeds the supply. IT jobs are growing fast, but the number of qualified and trained employees to fill them are few and far between.
Fewer people are taking on and graduating with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees. In fact, according to the National Science Foundation, the number of computer science bachelor’s degrees awarded grew only 2.6% in nine years, compared to how IT job positions have been increasing by 22% to 32% growth.
In addition to having difficulty finding qualified IT professionals, many existing workers in this sector will also be retiring soon with no new employees to fill their roles. This worker shortage creates problems nationwide, with over 18 states experiencing a scarcity of skilled tech employees, particularly in key states like California and New York.
Read more: Top 5 Ways Offshore Outsourcing Solutions Empower Both Startups and Forbes-Ranked Businesses
Knowledge Process Outsourcing: The Key to Addressing the IT Labor Shortage
Now that we’ve discussed the state of the global IT labor shortage and the factors causing it, let’s talk about possible solutions. It’s no secret that there is a skills shortage in the United States, particularly in the tech industry. The good news is that, with the technologies available to us today, location is no longer a barrier to finding qualified talents who have the knowledge and skills needed for a certain role.
These days, businesses can virtually team up with experienced professionals and gain access to their expertise and resources no matter where they may reside. This solution is known as knowledge process outsourcing or KPO.
KPO refers to outsourcing highly specialized and skilled work, typically requiring analytical or technical expertise and capabilities. Examples of KPO services that tech companies could take advantage of include software programming and development, data science and analytics, and business research.
Partner With an Experienced and Knowledgeable KPO Provider
Did you know that even the biggest tech companies like Google and Microsoft depend on outsourcing for their success? Get ahead of the labor shortage and replicate the success of the big players by partnering with SuperStaff, a reliable provider of BPO and KPO solutions.
You don’t have to invest millions of resources to get your ideal tech team. Work with SuperStaff, and you can gain access to top talent worldwide, speed up innovation, and easily scale your business while saving on costs. Whether you need help with data science or software development outsourcing, you can trust us to get the job done.
Contact us today, and gain access to a powerhouse tech workforce amid the IT labor shortage!
