Throughout my many years of leading tech companies, I’ve immersed myself in the varying shifts in technology’s job market. However, the 2024 tech hiring market presents significant challenges for both companies and candidates, stemming from the rapid evolution of the industry, a shortage of skilled talent, workforce preferences for remote work options, increased competition, and a growing emphasis on cultural fit and soft skills. To navigate these challenges successfully, finding strategic approaches for employers is crucial.

2024 Hiring Market Challenges Snowball Effect

When looking at the upcoming obstacles and recent experiences, I’ve noticed a sort of snowball pattern developing:

Rapid Industry Changes: The tech industry's rapid evolution means that companies must continuously adapt hiring strategies to keep pace with new roles and skills emerging as a result of innovation.

Skilled Talent Shortage: Rapid industry changes create a skilled talent shortage. Employers demand evolving skill sets like AI development, machine learning, and advanced data analytics. To stay "skilled," workers must engage in continuous education. The widening gap between required and available skills intensifies the challenge.

Growing work-from-home preferences have further exacerbated the skilled talent shortage for companies lacking hybrid and work-from-home options. According to WFH Research, “As of 2023, 11.5% of full-time employees work from home, while 28.8% work a hybrid model.” 

A report from FlexJobs states that 97% of workers desired hybrid or fully remote options. The preference for flexible working environments is astoundingly high. Many companies lack the technological infrastructure to accommodate this, and many candidates struggle to find such work in their local markets. 

Increased Competition: Consequently, the tech industry, already known for its high turnover rates and competitive job market, will find it increasingly difficult to find and retain top talent.

Cultural Fit and Soft Skills: Beyond technical prowess, aligning technically skilled candidates who also possess robust soft skills with a company's culture is crucial yet challenging, amplifying the hiring process's intricacies.

With such an insurmountable hiring market snowball barreling towards you, making a quick and strategic plan is crucial for survival. I've tested many strategies to overcome these unique obstacles, but there are a few my team will be focusing on for 2024. Feel free to pull from my playbook.

Strategies for Hiring Success in 2024

Strengthen Local Employer Brand: Be sure to engage with the local community. One of the ways you can do this is to collaborate with educational institutions. We've offered scholarships at Brigham Young University and other local universities to help get us on the minds of future graduates.

Another option would be to showcase your company culture to establish a strong local employer brand. We've had success advertising at BYU sporting events, making our name known to local talent. 

Beef Up Your Tech: To offer the highly sought-after remote work options, this will require a tech infrastructure and associated budget to support that process. Additionally, improved communication processes will need to be put into place. Fortunately, we invested heavily in our IT infrastructure, security, & collaboration tools before the pandemic hit. 

With solid password management, device management, & compliance policies in place, we sent our teams home in early 2020 with virtually no time lost in transition. Everyone grabbed their laptops and went home. Since then, flex days have been an easy transition and an excellent perk.

Offer Competitive Benefits: Providing appealing benefits such as flexible hours, wellness programs, hybrid work options, and continued education opportunities empowers your candidates to feel that you care about them in more ways than just a nice salary. Your company is investing in your employee’s success. Not only will this make your company stand out to candidates, but should you hire them, they will also invest themselves in the success of your company as a result.

Create a Growth Work Culture: Develop a company culture that values collaboration, innovation, and employee growth. Intentionally create a desirable workplace for skilled talent. 

One gratifying thing for me is that Smarty prides itself on being a fun place to work. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: creating a fun and productive environment has always been important for employee satisfaction and retention. Understanding coworkers as individuals with unique stories and dreams unlocks creativity and innovation, leading to better collaboration.

Some successful and creative ways to do this are scheduling costume parties or themed dress-up days, regular offsite team-building activities like arcades and golfing, and hosting monthly team lunches. We also plan company retreats and enjoy visiting theme parks to bring out the “kid” in all of us. Being serious about having fun drives our work culture.

Focus on Employee Retention: I cannot stress this enough: you should implement strategies to reduce turnover, implement employee feedback, and continuously improve the work environment. Smarty's dedication to ongoing employee training and skill development keeps our retention rates high.

Smarty boasts an impressive 93% employee retention rate. The incredible rate is due to how we invest in the local talent we hire. Our employees work on interpersonal and interdepartmental communication as we provide opportunities for team-building exercises and off-site events.

Conclusion

What we are doing works for us, but every organization is unique. Although the upcoming year may seem daunting, by incorporating any of these strategies, you will improve your results. 

The right strategic approach can make it easy to be successful while looking for top talent. By strengthening your brand locally, investing in remote-workable technology, creating a strong and fun work culture, and focusing on retaining the talent once you’ve hired them, you’re sure to get the job done.