Over the past few years, major technology companies rapidly hired thousands of new employees – only to then eliminate thousands more in mass layoffs. But could Big Tech’s loss be the wider market’s gain? That’s what analysts predict as companies position themselves to act on the opportunity to scoop up top talent.
While the technology sector is still poised to grow, it’s helpful to understand the motivators behind recent layoffs in the industry – and why they go beyond the economic downturn. See how this also reflects a shift in talent acquisition today in this E&T magazine article, featuring comments from Lu Hayward-Graham, Global Client Services Director.
From the article:
“While it’s true the layoffs have been mostly an economic decision, there has also been a shift in the types of roles and skills needed today,” says Lu Hayward-Graham. “The skills we need now didn’t exist 10 years ago and with this ongoing skills shortage in the tech sector, successful firms have been looking to hire based on soft skills – remote leadership, communication, dealing with change etc – rather than traditional, technical hard skills.”
To widen the talent pool while also responding to market shifts, companies are less inclined to hire, or more inclined to fire, people with very specific and niche skills and instead opt for people with wider, more transferable skill sets.
This could explain the reduction in technical talent across Big Tech and more widely, and signals a new approach being used to finally solve the skills gap after years of current methods failing to shift the dial. In this way, companies are seeing the value – in terms of time and cost – in hiring people that fit the culture and upskilling them, rather than employing people for skills alone.
To read more, visit E&T.
