Within the last couple of years, the world as we know it has changed more rapidly than in recent previous years. Not in terms of quantum leaps of technology, but how we all live and work in our daily lives. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have also fundamentally changed, especially their efforts toward digitalization and ramping up the use of technology. However, this move towards a more digitalized world is creating other issues. The most notable is the increased need for tech talent and the overall talent shortage we are presently facing.

Industries ranging from healthcare to finance and beyond, looking towards digitization to rebuild their businesses, suffer from a limited supply of qualified tech talent. Tech companies in Asia are going through a significant expansion phase fueling increased demand for tech talent. But this shortage of tech talent is hindering their ability to grow. A 2020 CIO Survey by IT outsourcing service provider Harvey Nash reported that 65% of all technology leaders across 83 countries had claimed difficulties with hiring as one of the major challenges faced in the industry. In the US alone, the tech talent shortage is at a ten-year high and is faced with the possibility of losing $162 billion in revenue due to the deficit in skilled tech talent.

So, what can businesses do?

One effort we see with larger multinational companies is to invest in their existing employees by implementing re-skilling and up-skilling programs. Amazon, for example, posted on its blog that it will invest $700 million into upskilling its employees to help them advance into tech-related roles within the company. CareerMinds, a global placement company, confirmed this amount and reported that PwC also announced plans to commit $3 billion towards up-skilling their employees in areas including AI and machine learning. Of course, the larger the corporation, the larger the budget, but investing in your present employees is a necessary first step towards meeting tech talent needs.

Another approach to growing the size and quality of the tech talent pool is to encourage recruitment from different regions worldwide. Although COVID has put a damper on these types of activities, as the stigma of COVID diminishes, and we learn to live with COVID, the ability to recruit tech talent from the global workforce will increase. And to stay ahead of the game now is the time to start planning and investing in this approach to securing highly skilled tech talent.

In a 2020 report by Korn Ferry on global tech talent, Future of Work – The Global Talent Crunch, it is clear that many countries are facing a deficit in highly skilled workers. However, there are exceptions. China, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, and the UK expect to see a surplus in tech talent. On the other hand, India expects to see a surplus of workers in the tech, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industries by 2030.

For many organizations, recruiting experienced tech talent professionals from these locations is an opportunity to tap into a rich talent pool. Businesses can potentially expand their resources and fill the skills gap by looking beyond the traditional tech talent hubs, where competition is high and even higher employee acquisition costs. Hiring beyond borders also helps inject a culture of diversity and inclusion into the workplace. When individuals with various skill sets, experiences, and perspectives come together to solve complex problems, the results are often multi-faceted and powerful.

As technology advances, people will gain new skills and new systems put in place. Business leaders can build an ecosystem of learning and growth for their employees by hiring tech talent from emerging markets for more entry-level roles to help them gain experience and prepare them for their chosen career paths. Hence, it is essential to incorporate diversity and flexible thinking in your teams and processes today and look beyond traditional ways of getting things done. 

In terms of recruitment and hiring global tech talent, as access to the global workforce improves, it will become more common and easier to acquire the needed human resources. Understanding the key steps involved in a successful tech talent search, qualification, acquisition, onboarding, and management will also be important. Working with a qualified talent resourcing partner is another possible strategy to guarantee the acquisition of highly skilled and qualified tech talent. Depending on the size of your company and its experience dealing with overseas entities, you will know which approach suits your needs, experience, and culture best. 

  James