Tech hiring trends 2024

Tech hiring trends 2024 will differ greatly, from those of years past due to economic uncertainty, exceeding inflation, and other global situations. Let’s explore these trends and learn how to adjust to hire the best software developers possible for your team.

Navigating hiring tech talent in 2024

Late last year and at the start of this new year 2024, the IT industry experienced massive tech layoffs. We have seen even tech giants let people go due to rising costs, fewer customers, etc. This is causing an overall shrinking job market. We are seeing companies lay off workers that are subpar and there is no need to keep them. Generally, companies will keep top-level experts while trimming the excess that just doesn’t need to be there.

Any companies that have hiring plans now, need to be tedious in their search to make sure that they are not hiring someone who is a poor fit. There is an influx of unemployed talent but the quality will vary. It is not likely that a company let go of a top-level expert unless the project they were a part of fell through.

Shift from the employee job market to the employer job market

We are seeing a slow shift from an employee job market to an employer job market. Slowly business owners are able to dictate terms and be more choosy during the recruitment process. Software developers will have to come up with different ways to stand out in order to land a job. Tech companies are only hiring when they really need to and will only hire the best of the best. Business owners are lengthening their recruitment processes to hire the best candidate for the job. They are not hiring for the sake of hiring. So software developers will need to step up their game if they want to be hired by the company of their choice.

Top tech industry hiring trends 2024

Let’s explore the top tech talent hiring trends for 2024.

Experience trumps education

More tech companies are looking for experience among IT professionals as opposed to just education. The tech industry values experience especially if they are looking for someone who can sit and complete their project. They may not be looking for someone that needs to be trained. They want a developer who is onboarded and can hit the ground running. A lot of the time experience is responsible for this ability, not necessarily education.

The hunt to hire younger tech talent

The tech job market is searching to hire young software developers to bring fresh blood onto their development team. They want software engineers who have knowledge and skills in the 👉 latest tech stacks 👈.

Also, young talent is hungry to prove themselves, to work, and join the workforce. Moreover, in some cases, they are braver when it comes to taking initiative in a project. They will offer up new ideas that might make the project better. Plus younger employees tend to be more flexible and push businesses forward to keep up with the times.

Rise in niche technologies such as Cloud Infrastructure, Automation, AI, etc.

The IT job market is seeing a rise in niche technologies. There is a need for developers that specialize in Cloud computing, automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and so much more.

There is an increased demand to develop software in these rapidly developing segments. Cloud infrastructure is useful to build eCommerce applications along with anti-virus applications. Whereas we can see the use of automation in consumer electronics, production companies, power backup devices, etc. Now Artificial Intelligence we see everywhere. Some popular examples include AI personal assistance, voice assistance, creating smart content, autonomous vehicles, and much more. Therefore, industries need skilled technicians in these technologies to meet the demand.

Remote or hybrid recruitment for tech jobs

Human resource managers should have a recruitment process in place that can handle remote or hybrid hiring processes. Since the pandemic, remote & hybrid have become a standard in the IT industry. Software developers don’t necessarily want to report to you in the office, in order to be considered for a role.

Tech companies have found different ways to interview developers without the need for a sit-down face-to-face in an office. Companies are taking advantage of tools such as Zoom, Teams, and Google Meets to carry out interviews. Also, technical skills can be tested with the help of live coding during a video chat. Additionally, skills tests can be carried out via a take-home test, if the employer sees that as a better option. Recruitment no longer has to be an in-office process.

Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Recruitment for tech professionals

Another big tech hiring trend in 2024, is using automation and artificial intelligence throughout the recruitment process. The advancement of technology has provided us with automation & artificial intelligence tools. Tools that can be used in recruitment such the applicant tracking system (ATS). This system enables hiring managers to track each candidate through the process.

Moreover, both these technologies have enabled companies to be able to hire software developers that are best suited for the role. They can match a candidate to their job description with a much smaller higher risk. This boosts their overall satisfaction. Also, it speeds up the hiring process, which means companies may not have to wait weeks to hire someone. Lastly, they will be a lot happier with the candidate that they choose to hire to join their development team.

HR Agencies are struggling while organic recruitment is king

Many tech companies are choosing to recruit through organic methods as opposed to using a headhunter from an HR agency. There is evidence of fewer and fewer companies using 👉 HR agencies 👈 because they are too expensive. An HR agency will charge one or two months’ worth of salary. So if the developer you hired is making 6000 dollars, they will charge you 6k or 12k. Talk about steep?

Moreover, companies are able to gain enough potential candidates on their own by posting job openings on job boards. They can be more choosy this way and hire someone who actually needs a job. Also, they can hire someone who wants to work for them. As opposed to hiring someone who was only truly persuaded because they were offered a higher pay grade.

The rise of temporary workers or contract workers on the job market

Labor statistics show that more and more companies are hiring temporary programmers on a project basis. This way they don’t have to pay for having a software developer on their company payroll full-time and permanently. But they can still access top technology professionals and finish their projects. This is a great way for tech firms to cut costs in a tough economy without completely downsizing.

Some popular ways for tech companies to gain temporary workers include 👉 IT staff augmentation services 👈, freelancers, outsourcing, managed services, and more. This way they can affordably scale their team and keep up with customer demands.

A need for the candidate to have a wide range of skills

Developer skills need to consist of a broader range of skills as opposed to specialized skills. IT managers are looking for coders who have experience in various programming languages, not just a select few. They want a developer who can be a chameleon and fit into more than just one or two projects.

A bigger emphasis on soft skills

Across the tech field among other sectors, there is a bigger emphasis on soft skills. Now more than ever employers are looking for good communication skills. Moreover, they are looking for developers who are open-minded, friendly, and professional.

More business owners are trying to avoid having and creating a toxic workplace. People around the world through quiet quitting and massive resignations have forced employers to take a look at improving company culture. Moreover, at being more scrupulous when analyzing interpersonal skills.

Also, project managers have noted that developers with inflated egos are notoriously difficult to work with. Moreover, they may not have the skill set to match that ego. So the project suffers because the skillset isn’t there, and they’re not pleasant to work with. This causes CEOs, hiring managers, and project managers to place a big emphasis on soft skills.

Increasing diversity in development teams

Software development teams are adding more diverse developers to their roster. Many companies are looking to create multinational teams. Hiring managers are looking to hire outside of their local markets to gain different skills.

Labor hoarding and reskilling existing employees

Another popular tech hiring trend is not hiring. Many companies are experiencing a hiring freeze. So they hoard their current employees, only layoffs the bare minimum. And anyone that remains in their roster, is trained with new sets of skills. Many business owners have found it’s cheaper to reskill existing employees than continuously hire new developers.

👉 Scaling your team 👈 can be expensive, so many companies during a recession choose to opt out of this decision. They would rather boost the competencies of their internal team than hire new personnel. In many cases it’s less expensive to train someone so they have new skills, then hire a new individual who is an expert in that particular skill set.

What are developers looking for when applying to various positions?

Let’s briefly look at what developers look for when choosing to apply for various positions.

Developers want flexibility when working

So we have mentioned remote & hybrid 👉 recruitment processes 👈. Well, developers want remote work opportunities as well. Not many developers want to be stuck working in an office at all times. Your company should provide remote work if it hasn’t already made that switch. At least make it an option, because you will also be able to access developers from a much wider talent pool.

Developers are looking for professional development opportunities

Up until now, developers have been known for notoriously hopping from job to job. Software developers easily get bored with projects & they hate stagnation. For a developer, it’s important to have the opportunity to grow. The opportunity to grow can take on many formats.

This can be the ability to work on different types of projects when they work with you. Moreover, this can be 👉professional development 👈 courses or e-learning. Lastly, this can be various workshops, exhibitions, conferences, etc. that will allow them to learn something new.

TL;DR: Summing up tech hiring trends 2023

Let’s quickly review the top tech hiring trends for 2023. Some trends that caught our eye and should be of interest to tech company owners include: 

• Experience trumps eductions
• The hunt to hire younger tech talent 
• Rise in niche technologies such as Cloud Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, IoT, etc. 
• Remote and/or hybrid recruitment process for tech jobs 
• The use of automation & AI in recruitment 
• HR agencies are struggling while organic recruitment is king 
• The rise of temporary workers
• A need for potential developers to have a wider set of skills 
• There is a bigger emphasis on soft skills 
• Increasing diversity in the development team 
• Labor hoarding and reselling of existing employees

It’s important to keep these hiring trends in mind when trying to recruit for your own software development company. Do you see a trend that we missed? Are you struggling to hire during this tough economic climate? 👉 Drop us a line 👈, and let’s chat about it this year’s tech hiring trends.