Finding and retaining skilled workers is an ongoing challenge for businesses. Research from the KPMG Global Tech Report 2022 revealed a lack of talent is the biggest business challenge for 44 per cent of Australian respondents. Additionally, most IT-related Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) jobs now either recognised national shortages or are expected to see strong demand in the future.
Unfortunately, the situation is expected to worsen. The Tech Council of Australia predicts the country will need one million people in tech jobs by 2025, meaning around 260,000 more people will need to enter the Australian tech workforce to avoid even greater skills shortages.
The impacts of tech talent shortages
The IT talent shortage can significantly impact businesses, especially those that rely heavily on technology and innovation. Businesses will be affected by these tech talent shortages in various ways, including:
- difficulty filling open positions leading to delays in projects and increased costs associated with recruiting and training new hires,
- inability to keep up with demand for products or services, resulting in reduced productivity and lost revenue,
- inability to keep up with technological advancements and innovation, reducing the capacity to compete in the global marketplace and negatively impacting revenue and growth
- reliance on existing staff to take on additional responsibilities, which can lead to increased workloads, stress, and burnout.
Strategies to overcome the IT talent shortage
To mitigate these risks, businesses should explore ways to retain existing talent, upskill them and attract new talent in order to extract more value from the workforce. There are four primary ways to achieve this.
Redistribute valuable resources
Businesses must upskill their existing talent to ensure continued success and profitability in the face of ongoing skills shortages. However, finding the time to invest in new skills can be challenging, particularly for under-resourced teams.
To remediate this, organisations can outsource time-intensive or commodity tasks that IT employees are typically engaged to perform, such as first-level support, asset tracking and management, MACs (Moves Adds and Changes) including receiving, storing, redeploying, and decommissioning equipment, or managing large technology refresh projects. These activities typically take up a lot of time for internal employees and can be easily outsourced to achieve efficiencies and economies of scale.
Automating and outsourcing tasks such as imaging, configuration and data sanitisation can also create efficiencies that reduce the burden on internal employees. This lets businesses free up valuable time in-house to empower and upskill their team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Design an attractive workplace
Technology, tools, and software that enables staff to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively creates a more attractive workplace. Outdated technology can lead to frustration, delays, and even mistakes, which can negatively impact employee morale and productivity. Employees are 230% more engaged and 85% more likely to stay beyond three years in their jobs if they feel they have the technology that supports them at work. Equipping employees with the fast and efficient technology mitigates the risk of unproductivity, freeing up time to focus on higher-value work and skill development.
Organisations can keep up with the changing pace of technology in a cost-effective way by working with a technology financier. The total cost of ownership is less than purchasing the equipment outright, the fixed monthly payments make budgeting easier, and the financier bears the risks of owning outdated technology. At the end of term, businesses enter a refresh cycle, where the devices are returned and replaced with new technology. This ensures that workplace devices always meet the requirements of employees and mitigates the risk of unproductivity.
Invest in culture and development
Prioritising employee retention is critical as recruiting and training new staff costs time and money. While it is true that a competitive salary and benefits package is effective, they alone are not enough to retain the skilled employees. Companies must invest in creating positive workplace culture and promote growth and development opportunities to keep their teams engaged.
Additionally, employees are more likely to search for new opportunities when their responsibilities become too simple, too mundane and too repetitive. Providing challenging work that aligns with the interests of employees is essential to retain top talent. This also helps to develop their skills and expertise, making them a more valuable asset to the organisation.
Companies should also consider work-life balance in their employee retention strategies. Offering flexible work arrangements such as a competitive remote working policy and paid time off enable a healthy work-life balance, avoids burnout and reduces stressed. As a result, job satisfaction increases, and high performing staff are more likely to stay within the organisation.
Upskilling is important, but it is important to remember that keeping people is always better and cheaper than finding new ones. Each company is different, but in IT, there are some common truths… IT people want interesting work, they want to continue to develop and keep up with technology, and, like any employee, they want to be part of a team with leadership they respect.
Kirk Downey, Head of IT - APAC, CHG-MERIDIAN
Embrace more sustainable business practices
The market is increasingly prioritising sustainability, with a recent employee survey revealing 70 per cent of respondents believe it’s important or very important for organisations to focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. As such, sustainability practices are increasingly becoming a competitive edge in the war for talent.
Organisations looking to improve their sustainability should join the circular economy Circular models promote the reuse, repair and recycling of materials to reduce waste production and mitigate harm to the environment. By working with an end-to-end solutions partner, technology can easily join the circular economy with minimal disruption to the business. When businesses no longer need their existing devices, the partner will refurbish the devices and resell them on the secondary market. This gives the technology a second life, prevents working devices from becoming ewaste and avoids the high carbon emitting production of new devices.
Businesses should also consider transitioning to carbon neutral IT devices to drive sustainability outcomes and attract environmentally conscious talent.
How we can support you
For more than 40 years, we have supported our customers sustainably finance and manage their technology investments, covering the entire lifecycle from procurement and use to data erasure, refurbishing, and remarketing.
We help our clients design productive and attractive workplaces with the latest technology that meets the requirements of the business and needs of employees.
Our lifecycle services reduce the burden of essential, time-consuming tasks. This enables the IT team to prioritise more strategic initiatives, focus on providing exceptional support to their stakeholders and develop their capabilities in the ever-evolving technology environment.
Our business model has been based on the principles of the circular economy since 1979. We have been carbon-neutral since 2021. To achieve this, we avoid, reduce, or offset all CO₂ emissions generated by our business activities.
Contact us directly
Our team of experts are ready to help you! Get in contact now.
Todd Fortescue
Vice President of Sales, ANZ
- CHG-MERIDIAN Australia Pty Ltd
- Level 11, 118 Mount Street
- 2060 North Sydney
- +61 29409 8200
- info_anz@chg-meridian.com
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