The statistics about the latest talent shortage has come out, and we are afraid to say that the stats bring major concerns. By the end of 2020, there will be 1.4 million unfilled CS jobs, and the concern is that the number of graduates is only 400 thousand a year.
If the United States software development shortage keeps growing at the same pace that it currently is at, the US is facing the risk of an output of $162 billion.
Overview of the Global Talent Shortage in 2020
Starting from 2020, the global talent shortage adds up to 40M skilled workers worldwide. By 2030, the world-wide talent shortage is estimated to reach 85.2M workers. Companies across the globe risk losing $8.4T in revenue because of the lack of skilled talent.
To put things into perspective, Sweden alone will be lacking about 70 thousand IT or digital-related competencies by 2022. With that being said, Israel is experiencing a 15% software developer shortage whilst still being among the top three fastest developing tech startup nations. This just goes to show that world-wide, no matter how high up you are in the tech world, everyone is experiencing talent shortages.
There are a few solutions that the tech industry has started to come up with, and we are going to share some with you. Most companies have already started to hire developers as contractors and freelancers. This is a tactic to overcome talent needs in the past 5 years. Your talent pool will increase, and you will be able to fill in the gaps in the industry.
Solving the talent shortage in the US
1. Poor CS Education
Education is the main aspect capable of helping in solving the talent shortage problem.
Solution: Government and private funding can improve this situation. Microsoft has already committed to this goal. Female involvement in tech has gone up since this initiative started.
2. Over-the-top Requirements for candidates
Companies prefer to hire senior software engineers. This request most often leads to overstated requirements for candidates. This makes it next to impossible to find people to fill the jobs that you wish to fill because the requirements are too high.
Solution: You can expand your talent pool. You can look nationally and internationally to find candidates that are highly qualified for the job. They can work remotely, and if they are able to do the job, it does not matter if they are senior or not.
3. Limited In-service Training
Companies tend to provide insufficient upgrade training. This encourages employees to upgrade their talents with other companies, or they tend to find external sources for professional development.
Solution: You can solve the talent shortage problem by keeping up with the general tech development trends and the latest software. You can ensure that your employees are up to date with what is happening in the tech world and offer refresher courses to ensure that you have the best tech team in the business.
