42% companies struggle to find quality tech talent globally: Report

With digital transformations across domains, there is a surge in the demand for quality technology professionals, however, 42 per cent companies surveyed said it was the biggest challenge for them while sourcing top tech candidates.

For the majority (42 per cent) of the companies surveyed, the first step of the hiring process, that is the sourcing of top tech candidates comprised the biggest challenge they faced while carrying out recruitment, according to 'Tech Hiring & Technology Adoption Trends 2019' report by Mercer|Mettl.

"Rapid digital transformation across domains has resulted in a steep rise in the demand for quality technology professionals the world over. However, as everybody is onboarding the automation bandwagon, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain quality tech talent. This is mostly on account of inadequate knowledge regarding tech-driven best practices and widening demand- supply gap," Mercer|Mettl CEO Siddhartha Gupta said.

The report is based on a survey of 350 industry leaders from over 200 companies of different sizes.

Further, the report revealed that one-fifth (20 per cent) of the respondents cited the time taken to close a tech position as the primary reason causing the potential engagement to fall through.

The report further reveals that a competitor firm offering better pay package contributed to more than half of the reasons (60 per cent) for a candidate to decline a job offer.

Recruiters also reported to having conducted rehiring for the same position 23 per cent of the times in a financial year, it said.

The main reasons (85 per cent) that lead a candidate to accept a job offer include the pay and the quality of work, it added.

Regarding the channels used by tech recruiters to source candidates, more than one-fifth (23 per cent) of the respondents said they depend on employee referrals while 22 per cent used job portals and forums.

On the other hand, organisations (12 per cent) that conducted campus hiring reported to having the highest success rate by closing tech positions 67 per cent of the time, it opined.

While evaluating candidates, proficiency in the required tech skills comprised the top criterion for 20 per cent of the organisations, while 18 per cent of them tested the candidates with the view of up-skilling them as and when necessary.

In this case, cognitive ability and learning agility formed the basis for evaluation, it added.