It is getting harder to fill tech roles yet we need them now more than ever
The average time it takes to fill open positions for non-tech-related roles in the US is decreasing year over year but is not the same for technology roles.
The surge of active job seekers in the market since the COVID-19 pandemi swept across the country has made it harder for employers to find the right candidate.
Holmdel, NJ-based recruiting cloud platform iCIMS has extracted data from its 4,000 customers, and, based on their interactions with its software, has noticed a change in business recruiting, and how the workplace is changing.
Its platform processes three million job postings and 75 million applications, resulting in four million hires per year and reaching over 30 million workers.
The demand for a wide range of tech roles is growing at an accelerated rate -- yet, in 2020, it takes employers an average of 69 days to fill a tech role, despite the increase in job seekers. This average time to recruit is 70% longer than the average of 41 days it takes to fill a non-tech role.
Employers have technology at their fingertips to automate and streamline recruitment tasks, but the average time it takes for an employer to fill many technology positions is increasing.
Remote work arrangements have further complicated hiring. Since the pandemic, there has been a notable increase in the proportion of applications being sent to jobs that are out of state. More people are applying to positions that are outside their home state.
When comparing August 2020 to August 2019, there was an increase of over 40% in the proportion of out-of-state job applicants.
As geographic location no longer seems to be vital for many employers, organizations are now receiving an influx of job applications from new talent pools across the country.
More applicants, competing for fewer resources in the workplace, and remote work arrangements are increasing the complexity of the hiring process.
In 2017, it took an average of 72 days to fill a role for a computer and information research scientist. In 2020, this has increased to 80 days to fill this role. Time to fill software developers and programmer roles took an average of 72 days in 2017, increasing to 78 days in 2020.
Digital transformation has made a significant impact on the workplace, which has been the impetus behind iCIMS' new platform offering; its AI-powered Talent Cloud offering applicant tracking and reduce extra processes for employers to reduce the time-to-hire, and attract the right talent.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a demand for a more "flexible" workforce -- with the term flexible taking on a whole different meaning to the term we have come to know and understand.
It is no longer about just working from home, and a few flex perks were thrown in for good measure. It is now about the flexibility that requires an entire transformation of people, processes, and infrastructure.
And if that means working out of state to keep yourself employed, then moving toward a flexible workforce location-wise is a decision that many workers now must take.