Australia is currently experiencing an extreme talent shortage only exacerbated by the pandemic and the Great Resignation phenomenon. As COVID-19 limited the migration of top talent and international students, this steep decline in skilled workers has companies struggling to employ. This has affected every industry nationally, with widespread impacts on Australian businesses.
However, those feeling these impacts the most are the tech industry, which is currently creating twice as many employment opportunities than any other sector due to the pandemic’s rapid digital acceleration. This is because businesses had to quickly adapt to remote working and began to heavily rely on online programs, cloud computing and tech software. While this substantial growth is a great opportunity for Australian businesses, it also presents a problem with the digital and tech talent gap. As the technology industry requires such highly specialised skills, many recruiters and companies looking to employ tech talent are struggling to find suitable candidates that match the capabilities and jobs required.
The need for tech roles is only expected to increase in Australia, particularly in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, software development, programming, technology design, data science, data analysis and machine learning. This is corroborated by a recent report from RMIT and Deloitte, which indicates Australia will need 156,000 more digital technology workers by 2025—further highlighting the importance of hiring and onboarding top tech talent now to maximise business growth and success later on down the track.
But how should Australian tech companies go about tech recruiting and employing skilled workers in such a highly competitive market? Let’s break down some of Techvisa’s top tips for recruiting tech talent:
Consider the Big Picture
Before beginning the hiring process, it is important to consider your overarching business plan and strategy. What are your goals and objectives currently? What are your plans for the future? What skills will you require in the coming years?
By standing back to look at the bigger picture you can best understand how to hire in a way that not only covers the company to meet demand in a time of need but also encompasses recruiting tech talent in advance with new skills that align with the business’s future competency and product offering projections. This can reduce the risk of experiencing a company role shortage in the long term and help your company to grow most sustainably.
Expand Your Search Internationally
Before rushing in to scoop up whoever the best applicant is from a limited local tech talent pool, it is a great idea to cast your net broader by expanding your search internationally. A beneficiary of the pandemic has become the new and more dynamic ways of working. Just a couple of years ago, businesses in Australia were relying heavily on traditional business operations with an office that employees had to attend each day to complete their work. However, with the digital transformation we have experienced, employees, particularly within digital and tech industries, can work remotely and with flexible working hours. When recruiting tech talent, it is a great idea to look to international workers with less competition, who have the highly specialised skills and experience you are after.
Whether it is most effective for a new employee to work overseas remotely for your business, another option includes an employer-sponsored visa. This can enable a talented international worker to travel to Australia to work within your business. Not only does this fill a role within your company, but employing a range of diverse workers for your business can provide fresh perspectives and ideas to encourage growth.
For further information on the visa types and options available to you, contact our Techvisa team of experienced migration experts.
Upskill Internally
Where you are unable to locate a skilled local or overseas worker, another tip for recruiting tech talent is to upskill your current employees and hire internally. Your existing employees already have great knowledge of the business and company goals for the future. By investing in a current workforce, businesses can reduce the resources expended in recruiting externally and demonstrate to employees that they are valued within the company.
Particularly in such a fast-paced industry like tech, there is a need to keep your finger on the pulse and upskill to stay relevant and innovate within the sector. Take advantage of this by providing your employees with more learning and development opportunities to upskill internally. This will, in turn, become an asset to your business too!
Invest in New Technology
Want to know one of the best ways to attract the next generation of top talent in tech? Invest in innovative and cutting-edge technologies, and the rest will follow. With such a rapidly evolving industry, tech workers are most driven and motivated to work in a business they can use and interact with the latest technology.
Invest in technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality to improve current processes and the tech product or service offering. This could include automating processes using the latest technology to improve business efficiencies or enabling employees to get hands-on and use new tech in training sessions.
So, there you have it! Our top tips for recruiting tech talent and highly skilled workers for your business. If you would like to learn more about the employer-sponsored visa options available to you, contact our team of migration specialists today.
