Demand for IT specialists: Companies need to rethink their approach
Many companies still have great difficulty finding suitable IT specialists. Sometimes it's because they haven't said goodbye to old ways of thinking consistently enough.
The Hays Professionals Index for the first half of 2019 shows a continuous increase in demand for IT professionals over the last few years. The fact that the graph shows a slight decline from the first to the second quarter could be due to the nature of the survey. Published job openings are counted to create the index, and multiple advertisements are filtered out. There is no doubt that IT continues to be on an upward trend. This applies to all specializations, even if demand for certain qualifications fluctuates slightly.
Specialists are sought by companies of all sizes - from startups with two employees to large corporations. Small and medium-sized companies with 20 to 500 employees in particular like to call in a recruiter for permanent placements. These companies are often still too small or too new on the market to be considered a brand and attract applicants with their name. However, this does not mean that they are not attractive as employers, especially since many of them are successfully operating in a growth market.
Particularly high demand for IT specialists in the field of analytics and security
Current boom areas within IT are analytics and security. Thanks to RFID chips, mobile devices, SIM cards installed in cars, increasing credit and loyalty card use and, in general, rapidly growing digitization, not only are ever greater volumes of data accumulating, but the period of time that can be digitally analyzed has also become very meaningful. Business intelligence experts and analysts are therefore sought after by every major company. In parallel, the demand for security experts continues to grow. On the one hand, the huge data lakes of corporations must be protected against unauthorized access, and on the other hand, phishing and ransomware attacks must be prevented - even for small and medium-sized companies. Maximum security has always been the watchword for banks and insurance companies; today, this increasingly applies to industrial companies and service providers that don't have much to do with IT at all. They, too, cannot afford to have their operations suddenly paralyzed. Specialists are being sought both by external security providers and by the companies themselves, which are setting up their own security departments.
The demand for IT professionals in database development in the ERP segment is fueled by SAP's 2025 deadline. From this date, only S/4 Hana and SAP Business Suite 7 on Hana will be supported. After 2025, the demand is expected to weaken somewhat. Experts in the field of machine learning are currently mainly sought in the university environment, although artificial intelligence is ubiquitous as a topic.
Where and how to search?
If companies have trouble finding IT experts with the right qualifications, they turn to a personnel service provider. But even for them, the task is not easy, since suitable candidates are generally in short supply and are only available for permanent employment every few years. In Switzerland, classic security experts and specialists for cyber security, risk, audit or network security are the most likely to be found. For more advanced specializations, especially if cloud experience is required, foreign countries often have to be included in the search. Not only are there hardly any experienced candidates in this country, Switzerland also trains too few IT specialists - with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts being a laudable exception. However, university graduates initially have only theoretical knowledge and, of course, do not specialize in any one subject. For Hays, they become interesting as candidates with three to five years of professional experience.
While recruitment in pharmaceutical research, for example, is always global, in IT good German language skills are desired even if the company language is English. So the search for candidates must not be conducted too internationally. For specialists from Germany, however, a move to Switzerland has become less attractive since the German economy has picked up significantly - all the more so if a developer wants to move here with children and has to find a rare and expensive daycare place here.
The wishes of the employees have changed
The candidates' concerns have changed in recent years. The youngest are guided by brands and are attracted to the large corporations they already know from their studies. Small and medium-sized companies, on the other hand, hardly have a chance to introduce themselves at universities. Flexible working time models with annual working hours, gladly also at a reduced workload, and the possibility of working from a home office are still in demand. In short, the young specialists primarily want a lot of freedom - even if they haven't really proven themselves yet. For the employer, this means: Agile project management alone is not enough to inspire the candidates they are looking for, if the daily Scrum meeting is then scheduled for 8:30 am. In the past, the stability of the workplace was an important concern for candidates; today, fringe benefits and an appealing office setup with table soccer are of greater importance.
A special situation prevails in Zurich, where Google operates its second-largest research site worldwide with 4,000 developers and wants to grow further. Google has no shortage of applicants, of course. However, developers who leave Google not infrequently have difficulty finding a new job. They often specialize in technologies that are far from being ready for the market. Hardly anyone speaks German. They are extremely spoiled when it comes to working hours and working environment, and after all, they have earned significantly more than their future supervisor will receive at another company. For many companies, ex-Googlers are therefore out of the question as employees - just as former bankers have a hard time finding a new professional home in other industry segments.
Attitudes in companies must change
Some companies still haven't gotten rid of the idea that candidates have to be grateful to be invited for an interview. But it's the other way around: the company has to be grateful that someone comes along! All signs indicate that this trend will intensify. The need for action on the part of companies is correspondingly great.
The challenge begins with self-promotion, which - if it exists at all - is primarily directed at potential customers. The effect on job applicants is hardly considered. However, an outdated website alone can keep rows of specialists from taking any further interest in an employer. Then there's the job posting: if it's not worded in a fresh and youthful way, the desired candidates are unlikely to apply. The application process is also crucial - not the systems that are used, but the esteem in which candidates are held. This also includes ensuring that the process does not drag on. If delays do occur, candidates must be informed if they are not to be lost to the competition. Many companies are still far too stuck in the old thought patterns and regard the job applicant as a supplicant.
Demand for IT professionals leads to rethink
Companies must make a special effort to modernize the working environment. The right people should not only be attracted, but also retained! Because once employees have built up product- and process-specific knowledge, it is tantamount to bloodletting when they leave the company.
In the meantime, there has been a rethink in Swiss politics; Curriculum 21 even provides for programming courses in school. As a high-wage country with few raw materials, Switzerland has no other option than to focus on technologies and thus on IT.
About the authors:
Patricia Jergen and Thorsten Morschheuser are recruiting experts at Hays.
