[Market Paper] Tackling the North American talent gap
As businesses in the United States and Canada attempt to win in the race to digital first, there’s a problem on the horizon. In fact, there’s already a crisis. The amount of unfilled computing jobs continues to grow, and the amount of qualified graduates is creating a shortfall. AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, continued movement to cloud technologies — there’s a growth of new positions and an increasingly small amount of qualified talent to fill them. Hiring locally is becoming a fierce seller’s market so the need to look elsewhere for top talent is clear.
A crisis in the making
There are almost one million unfilled software development positions in the United States, but the number of new graduates in required disciples is currently under 500,000 per year. This means that the US is at risk of facing an unrealized output of over $160bn if software engineering shortages continue at a similar pace.
The competition for recruiting the right talent is insanely competitive and expensive, and most companies are left with underskilled or less motivated developers than they need to achieve their strategic objectives.
Close to, if not at the top, of these objectives is transformation — made more pressing by the pandemic as organisations seek to diversify their offerings to cater to an evermore digital space. Agnostic of industry, their customers are living in a digital world. To go digital first refers to the practice of putting emphasis on a business model that prioritises digital processes internally and digital offerings externally. But there simply isn’t the qualified talent available to bring these products and services to market at the speed to keep up with nimble, innovative competitors.
How US and Canadian businesses can leverage global talent to scale without limits
DOWNLOAD WHITEPAPERIndustries in flux
North American tech leaders believe the digital skills gap is becoming a digital skills crisis. Ultimately, it’s a case of supply and demand — there’s an imbalance between the need for a digitally competent workforce and the availability of people trained in those specific skillsets.
Organizations from banks to retailers to healthcare providers are becoming digital businesses.
While the need for technical expertise is clear, high-level soft skills are also necessary to leverage that technology to craft real-world solutions. Even prior to the pandemic, the pool of qualified people to fill software engineering jobs was already a challenge for North American companies. A challenge exacerbated by freedom of movement restrictions and regulatory measures stemming the influx of skilled workers — which is particularly the case in Canada.
Entering a seller’s market
On the one hand, the demand for engineers with the right skills is skyrocketing. On the other, larger and more well-known enterprises have an edge in attracting the best people. In essence, the tech giants and other major players have a monopoly on top talent. Because there’s fewer skilled people to choose from, local salaries have increased enormously, with the largest and most prestigious companies pricing smaller and medium sized ones out of the race.
Then to exacerbate this issue, retention is a nightmare. The smaller companies who do manage to obtain elite skills have to constantly look over their shoulder as the major players poach their best developers with higher compensation packages and pricey perks. Put simply, an already fierce battle for talent is intensfying — but there exists a way for North American organisations to navigate these new waters.
Identifying a solution
If placing software more centrally is key, but the engineers needed to facilitate this move are getting further out of reach… what’s the solution? Exploring alternative ways to build their tech teams. An offshore centre can give these American and Canadian IT decision makers an advantage and act as their secret weapon.
By extending development operations to a talent-rich offshore destination, they’re able to plug skill gaps with highly talented engineers, deliver faster, and speedily scale in line with strategic objectives. But it’s hard to go it alone, which is why partnering with an expert offshore team builder can be the difference between success and failure.
How US and Canadian businesses can leverage global talent to scale without limits
DOWNLOAD WHITEPAPERBuilding tech teams beyond borders — the United States and Canada edition
Developers are the lifeblood of your organisation in the race to software-centric business, so it’s important to find, assess, and hire the right talent. With the right development partner and the right offshoring model, you can cast your net into global talent pools and access the skills you can’t find at home.
A custom-built offshore development team is an integrated extension of your existing setup; you work with the developers the same as you do with your engineers at home — they’re full-time, value-adding colleagues, not outsourced support.
It’s offshoring that finally works. Our ebook, ‘Building tech teams beyond borders’ is focused specifically on the North American market and shows you exactly how you can make it work for your business.
What will you learn?
- Why the pandemic has left businesses in the US and Canada unable to fill key tech roles needed to transform.
- How skill-building initiatives are preparing talent for tomorrow, leaving businesses unable to scale today.
- That to grow tech teams at the speed needed in today’s reality, hiring only locally is no longer an option.
- Why offshore teams give organisations a strategic edge to help them accelerate past their competition.
To find out more about building your tech teams beyond borders, and how CTOs, CIOs, and VPs of Engineering can leverage global talent pools to scale at speed, download our latest report.
If you’re looking to build an engineering team offshore to plug the skills gaps in your business, feel free to reach out to us. One of our senior executives will get back to you shortly and help you move forward based on your requirements.
