The State of the Melbourne Tech Talent Market
There’s no doubt that the events of 2020 have affected virtually every industry. In terms of the Melbourne tech talent market, employers now face several opportunities and challenges as 2021 continues. The aftermath of several lockdowns, shifts in the workplace environment, and the need for remote tools has caused some significant changes that employers should be aware of.
COVID-19
It seemed to come as a surprise that as Melbourne came out of a second major lockdown from 2020, there was a renewed optimism in the market. We experienced the occasional outbreak in early 2021, but there is consistent evidence that case numbers continue to trend downwards. Ultimately, this bodes well for the market.
Victoria Job Rebound
The optimism in the marketplace is seen in the number of online jobs now being posted. In October 2020, Victoria displayed the highest rebound in advert numbers with a 16.4% change. This is the highest in all of Australia. These online jobs included 3,194 IT positions advertised in the “All Melbourne VIC” category.
Among those thousands of positions, 706 were for developers and programmers, highlighting just how competitive these positions are for the market. The number of positions available for Information and Technology shows that these jobs are in high demand. Companies will again be competing for the best talent to join them.
We’ve heard anecdotal evidence from developers and engineers that significantly more managers and recruiters are reaching out to them with opportunities than before the pandemic.
Essentially, the talent out there can now be selective about the opportunities they pursue. In a market where skilled workers ultimately sell their skills, it’s the employers who now have to recognize what will make them competitive and attractive to the talent pool.
Hiring and Talent Acquisition Teams in 2021
Hiring teams now face pressure to fill empty requisitions as fast as possible, with the most skilled recruits. Both Human Resources and Talent acquisitions teams will have to navigate a few challenges while hiring in 2021.
1. Increasing Customer Demands
The pandemic has bought a new reliance on digital products which has made a lot of consumers more digitally literate. This means that digital companies need to deliver products and services that satisfy demands for speed, efficiency, and punctual delivery. In other words, the customer will want products from companies who can meet their needs.
Undermanned teams will always struggle to meet deadlines for new releases, feature upgrades, and so on. For Talent Acquisition teams, the challenge in this area is that the longer it takes to hire a team, the longer it takes to deliver. Soon, deadlines aren’t met, customers are disappointed and leave.
2. Team Morale
But product teams thrive on delivery and will paper over the gaps in the short term but this isn’t sustainable for long. Teams can only put up with heavier workloads for a short time before they get burnt out.
3. Budgets
Some organisations will try and buy their way out of this problem by increasing salaries paid to new hires or spending more on benefits. This in turn can have an impact on the current staff who may ask for salary increases. It’s a tricky situation that HR and Finance teams need to consider carefully.
Staying Competitive in 2021
So Talent Acquisition and Human Resources teams need to really consider their strategies in 2021. With an overarching desire for quality talent in the Melbourne market, there’s no time to lose when it comes to examining a talent strategy.
Raise Employer Value Proposition
With increasing numbers of firms reaching out to quality talent with their opportunities, it’s important to understand that you are entering a war of attention. The strategies you put into place have to capture the interest and imagination of a potential new team member. They ultimately need to be more interested in your opportunity than anyone else’s.
Start by looking at the careers page on your website. It’s the front door to your business, does it accurately reflect your company’s mission, vision, and values? Are they front and center?
Is your D&I plan in plain sight? This is becoming an increasingly important part of what candidates screen companies for. You’ll want to be upfront about your ability and willingness to include hire diverse teams that reflect their customer base.
Emphasize Benefits and Perks
You can’t attract high-quality talent if you can’t clearly state what value working for you will bring them. Along with your values, mission, and plan—ensure that the benefits and perks are visible and understandable.
It’s the small things that collectively make up the bigger value proposition. Think of things like any end-of-trip facilities, flexible working options, and remote benefits. Given the current global situation, your new recruits want to know how your company is adjusting and taking care of its workers at the same time.
We know that potential new hires will directly compare your list of perks to other companies that reach out. Make sure what you offer is competitive and honest.
Engage Entire Team
Hiring new people for your staff is a team sport. For that reason, you should pool your resources as a company to help to make hiring faster and more engaging.
You can involve your senior leaders in the interviewing and attraction aspect. This will differentiate your company because leaders’ presence as a part of your attraction plans or the recruiting process shows what kind of culture you have. It demonstrates that your leadership cares for the newest members coming in and that they want to help.
Leaders in your company can help answer questions about what a future at your business will look like. They can talk about their experiences and opportunities while working at the company to paint a picture for new workers.
Create Videos
Now is the time to update and improve job promotional content on your website and that you will use to promote your business on other platforms. Videos continue to dominate the content game, so creating a video with a script about the available roles will help new talent understand what you’re looking for in a more engaging way.
You can ask hiring managers to cut a short video on Loom with a script and personalise it to your outbound candidate list. Send this video through personalised emails to a shortlist of new candidates as a way of attracting and engaging them.
Run an Information Webinar
You can create a no-obligation and free information webinar for candidates to attend. You can make this a topical event where your Senior team members will talk about the business, the kind of problems your team solves, their personal stories in the company, and what new candidates can expect.
This webinar doubles as a hiring session and is extremely informative to potential hires. They can get the company brief from your leadership and even ask questions directly. A webinar will provide a lot of value upfront for new candidates. They will appreciate your openness and willingness to meet them. Here’s one we ran with a client of ours.
Protect Your Talent Acquisition Team
A dangerous part of this new hiring strategy is overworking your talent acquisition team. Implementing new strategies will create more work for your team as they create content, update your website, and reach out to potential recruits. They’ll need support and resources to help deliver these initiatives.
Streamline the Hiring Process
There are several ways to make hiring faster. You can use tools to help minimize the need for back and forth emailing and contact and screen new candidates appropriately for positions.
An example of this is the hiring process at the company Automattic. A new hire discussed the hiring process he went through. The steps of his hiring involved limited contact with the people company. Though, he understood the next steps and had his questions answered along the way.
The Automattic Hiring Process
- Interview
- Code Test
- Part-Time Trial
- Final Talk and Offer
Using tools, Automattic created a system that screened new candidates and allowed them to move forward at a steady pace.
Use an Interview Scheduling Tool
There are many applications and tools your team can use to make processes faster. Instead of emailing candidates back and forth about scheduling interview times, you can use an interview scheduling tool. These platforms and applications allow your client to sign-up for an interview time, so they can indicate when they’re available to talk to you. If your current ATS doesn’t have a built-in tool, you may find something in this list.
Run Asynchronous Interviewing
Social-distancing rules remain in place for the time being. Remote interviews are normal now, and you can increase your efficiency by conducting Asynchronous interviews. Essentially, you can use tools to help you run multiple interviews at the same time. This way, you can screen multiple candidates at once to keep up your momentum. Slack is an easy way to do this – just set up conversations with your hiring teams and different candidates.
Use a Skills Assessment Application
Tools like Vervoe allow you to conduct skills assessments for candidates. Your candidate can complete this assessment as a part of the hiring process on their own time. You can include their assessment results in your final talk with them or a part-time trial with them.
Skill assessments will save you a lot of time and give you the information you need about candidates.
Conclusion
Your teams can implement a host of strategies to get your hands on the best talent while also protecting your hiring team.
Staying Competitive in 2021
- Raise EVP
- Emphasize Benefits & Perks
- Involve Entire Team
- Create Videos
- Run an Information Webinar
- Protect your HR/TA Team
- Use a Scheduling Tool
- Run Asychronus Interviews
- Use Skills Assessment Application
Standing out in a competitive talent market begins by ensuring your company’s identity is clear. You also entice new workers by showing them how your company cares for their needs through your perks, benefits, and the quality of working conditions. Streamline your process using tools.
2021 leaves the Melbourne tech market in a state of high-potential and optimism. Using these strategies will give you an edge over other companies. If your company is facing the challenges of new hires this year, Crew can help you. We help clients win through our Talent Delivery and Talent Strategy services.
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