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Between the recession in the United States, austerity measures in Europe and the economic turmoil in South America, there aren’t many economies that have been doing too hot in recent years. And when economies as a whole struggle, jobs and industries struggle. But while industries like manufacturing, construction and retail took a major a hit during the downturn, there’s at least one industry that has continued to grow – technology.
The pace of tech innovations, mobile dominance and cloud computing adoption has lead to what the Boston Business Journal is calling a “high tech talent war.” With big idea schools like MIT and Harvard in the backyard, Boston has become a hub of tech innovation, start-ups and established businesses. Now, the race is on for the area’s companies to stay on top by attracting the top talent. From the Boston Business Journal:
“Right now, if a tech worker posts his resume on a job board like CareerBuilder.com, he can expect more than 50 responses,” says Chris Mader, vice president of growth strategy and development at Randstad Technologies. “The demand for IT skills continues to rise. Companies are seeking increased revenue through IT. They’re seeking increased savings through IT. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about 2013.”
According to a June poll by CIO.com, tech business leaders report that IT budgets are steadily growing, up by 4.9% overall this year. From CIO.com:
Several tech categories are seeing a bump in spending since the April 2012 study, specifically mobile/wireless (up 6% from April), outsourced services (including cloud — up 6%) and hardware (up 7%). Additionally, 48% of CIOs are using an increasing portion of their budget for new projects, and growing topline revenue is driving 36% of new project spending. Enterprise organizations (1000+ employees) are more focused on increasing external relationships and experiences (42% vs. 28% of SMB), whereas SMB (< 1000 employees) are more focused on internal support and services (37% vs. 32% of enterprises).
The rise in both external relationship spending and internal support bodes well for tech workers – with increased demand for services overall comes increased demand for talent overall. Tech professionals themselves are feeling the increase in demand and the subsequent power and security that gives them. From Boston Business Journal:
A recent survey by Randstad Technologies, the global recruitment giant, shows career confidence surged among IT professionals during the second quarter of 2013. Of the 200 who responded to Randstad’s poll, 47 percent said they believe they could quickly find a new job, compared to 38 percent in the first quarter. And while high tech workers are often hired to work on short-term projects, 58 percent reported they believe it’s unlikely they’ll lose their job in the next 12 months.
This sentiment and the battle it’s causing on the business level isn’t exclusive to Boston. It continues to happen in Seattle and Silicon Valley and with tech being one of the biggest booming industries in the world at the moment its spreading around the globe. This means companies are going above and beyond to attract the best talent – ranging from great benefits to attractive work spaces.
“For the situation we have today, the words ‘talent war’ is an apt description, and it’s especially tough in Boston. This city is a very good start-up environment, with lots of venture capital and entrepreneurs and talent. There’s always someone new raising money, as well as big established companies hiring thousands of people. But I’m sure a lot of what we see here is true worldwide. From Boston to Bangalore to Budapest, tech people are in demand.” …
At uTest, a software testing company now based in suburban Southborough, the top executives were so desperate to attract IT talent that they recently opened a satellite office in Cambridge to scoop up recent college grads.
Now they’re making plans to relocate their company headquarters to a new facility in Framingham with twice as much space. They’re hoping the move will mean they’re seen as a fun and comfortable place to work.
“We’ll be going from 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet so we’ll have room for all sorts of comfortable rooms with couches and beanbag chairs, because no one wants to be sitting at a desk all day,” says Matt Johnston, chief marketing and strategy officer at uTest. “We take very seriously the importance of being a great place to work, from compensation to benefits to overall culture to vacation policies to being able to work from home.
Read the full article in Boston Business Journal >>>
It’s a good time to be a tech worker.