News & Blog

Trend #1 - "War on Talent" Remains and "War for Retention" is Emerging

In the first six months of 2017, The Hiring Group noted steep increase in demand for contingent-based technology and engineering talent, with digital transformation, automation and agile development being key drivers."Across the staffing and recruiting industry, in particular the technology and engineering fields, a "war for talent" remains, as demand for highly specialized technical skill sets is at a premium," notes Brooks Israel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner for The Hiring Group. "Over the last 12 months, 92 percent of our newly hired contractors had to put in their notice to their previous employer."

"What we've noticed over the last six months, is that, while the 'war on talent' remains constant, there is also a 'war for retention'," said Israel. For companies leveraging technical contractors, there is significant risk when contractors leave a company to take a different opportunity at another company. "If you're talking large, multi-million dollar technology projects, the gaps filled by a contractor leaving can create significant pain in terms of project milestones, as well as business and operational downtime." In a recent survey of hiring managers conducted by The Hiring Group, 97 percent of respondents indicated that "contractor attrition" was a top concern.

Trend #2 Security and Compliance Initiatives Are Increasing

As the data threat landscape continues to intensify, security and compliance remain top priorities across all industries. "Over the last six months, we've seen the number of security and compliance-related job requisitions increase by more than 60 percent," says Co-Founder and Managing Partner for The Hiring Group Chris Yarrow."IT security and compliance analysts are in extremely high demand. Companies are also focused on cross-training these security and compliance teams to avoid talent shortage."

Trend #3 Digital and Enterprise Transformation Are Being Driven By the C-Suite

In every organization, digital and enterprise transformation initiatives are leading the list of corporate priorities from the top down. The big data revolution has catalyzed organizations to measure, track and analyze every facet of their business. Having this insight is exposing areas of the business where improvements are needed, either in terms of technology improvements or process and people-centered changes. "Our clients are under significant pressure to drive down operational costs, while also meeting increasing production targets at the same time,"said Israel. "Leveraging contracted technologists and engineers helps these companies adapt and adjust as transformations take place within the organization."

Trend #4 Automation and Robotic Automation Are Becoming the New Reality

A key element of the enterprise transformation movement is the focus on automation across the organization."We are working with some of the most advanced manufacturing companies in the world that are using artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive technologies and robotic automation to build efficiencies and increase quality within their plant operations," said Israel."As these companies increase the frequency and scale these projects across the enterprise, the demand for mechanical and automation engineers is growing. For these projects to be successful, organizations must continue to find ways to retain great contractors and hire for long-term, multi-year contracts."

Outlook for 2H 2017

A healthier and more vibrant job market means the supply/demand for talent vs. job availability is relatively balanced. However, in the case of IT and engineering positions, the "war on talent" is creating a wider gap for the highly specialized technical skill sets. Companies are paying a premium for these technologists and engineers. On the other end of the spectrum, however, organizations are beginning to focus on what to do about underperformers."As part of the enterprise-wide focus on driving quality, any employees that are underperforming compared to the skills required to perform their jobs are either being utilized in other areas of the business or trained to perform other jobs," concluded Yarrow.