It’s no surprise that in our current candidate-driven market IT salaries have seen a steep increase and there’s a bit of a jostle to secure IT talent among employers.
“We’ve found that techs who are looking for a job often have more than one offer on the table. This means that employers need to move fast and get in with their very best offer, just to be in the running” says Richard Vaughan, Managing Director Younity.
With tech candidates in high demand, savvy employers are stepping up their staff benefits to offer value that goes beyond just remuneration.
Benefits can include excellent staff wellness initiatives, interesting perks – such as free media streaming subscriptions, and particularly training and development opportunities.
“This is especially true if you employ permanent staff. Offering a wide range of staff benefits such can give you a competitive edge in the market.”
It’s clear that holding on to permanent staff is a big challenge for employers now. “We’re seeing a trend that employers are more willing to counter-offer to hold on to their permanent employees.”
With the steady rise of hourly rates and IT salaries, contractors are also expecting a rate increase at extension time.
“A competitive hourly rate is still the main driver for contractors, but other elements also come into play – such as the technologies involved and the type of work they’ll be doing.”
As the pandemic is easing companies are trying to get people back into the office, but workers aren’t overly keen to do it.
This week Vodafone released research about the impact of hybrid working on connectedness in the workplace. While 30% of people said they’d leave a role if remote working wasn’t an option, the vast majority (66%) also said they missed face-to-face contact.
“It’s still a developing picture of what the future of work will look like. The challenge for employers is to make their office environment a place where workers want to spend time and connect with their teammates.”
IT skills and trends in the job market over August
In the tech space:
- We’ve seen strong demand for Automation Testers and Data Engineers across New Zealand.
- High demand for Mobile Developers in Auckland.
- DevOps is still one of the hardest skillsets to fill in both Auckland and Wellington.
- Tech roles are mostly permanent roles with only a few contract roles available.
In the business transformation space:
- The consistent high demand for BAs (for both business and technical BAs) is not slowing down for both Auckland and Wellington.
- We’re seeing a spike in the demand for Project Managers, Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches in Wellington.
- About 95% are contractor roles with only a few permanent placements.
“With no big influx of migrant IT skills and historically low levels of unemployment there’s still a limited pool of IT talent in New Zealand and tight competition for those skills – we’re not expecting things to change very quickly.”