Just over 61% of CEOs and CTOs will hire candidates from outside the UK – or even the European Union (EU) – to find the best talent, a survey has found.
Research by technology job marketplace Hired found 28% of senior executives find competition a big obstacle for hiring technology talent – and 65% said they are seeing a negative impact of revenue because they cannot hire the talent they need.
Sophie Adelman, Hired UK general manager, said: “With the number of tech companies flourishing, companies will increasingly struggle to engage and find top talent in the UK’s competitive landscape.”
Most candidates for positions such as developers, data scientists and web designers come in through referrals, and more than half of those asked are not training their interviewers before the interviewing process.
Despite the lack of training for interviewers, Hired found that, in more than 40% of cases, the CEO or CTO of a company was involved in the hire process, indicating the importance of technology hiring.
“The fact that the majority of companies are still sourcing candidates through referrals and job boards suggests that they might not be able to access, or have visibility on, the best talent for their teams,” said Adelman.
“In order to thrive and compete within the global market, companies need to take a more strategic approach to hiring.”
Long gaps between hires is also impacting firms, with 73% saying taking a long time to hire has a negative effect on project development and 36% saying this damages team morale.
More than 40% of companies said they take between one and two months to hire candidates, with 20% taking even longer.
But 40% of companies think retaining employees is a more important measure of success than how quickly a new person can be hired.
“A different approach to hiring needs to be implemented,” said Adelman.
Driving diversity
A change in recruitment was a theme at London Technology Week 2015, where delegates focused on encouraging more women and girls into technology to close the skills gap and how diversity in firms will fuel the economy more widely.
But the survey found only 17% of firms track the diversity mix of applicants applying for jobs in their recruitment metrics.
Read more about IT skills
- A report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills suggests retailers will need to invest in upskilling to prevent a drop-off from older employees and appeal to the younger generation.
- Millions of pounds will be invested in building research centres to fuel the UK’s digital economy research and skills.
“In order to influence and improve the diversity of the talent in their organisations, companies need to place a greater emphasis on sourcing, attracting and engaging with diverse candidates,” said Adelman.
“Tracking diversity as a recruitment metric is one way companies can ensure they keep diversity issues front of mind as they go out to the talent marketplace looking for the top candidates.”
