No industry is immune to the consequences of the great resignation, and if workers don’t see a sustainable future at a company, they will walk.
Seventy-two percent of tech workers in the U.S. are thinking about leaving their current employer in the next year, according to
“Most companies seem to ignore the importance of nurturing their existing employees,” says Periklis Venakis, chief technology officer of Epignosis. “They put an emphasis on attracting new talent instead of truly investing in their own teams.”
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Seventy-five percent of tech workers felt their company focused more on attracting new talent than supporting existing employees, according to the TalentLMS report. But as the Society for Human Resource Management estimates that hiring someone new could cost up to 200% of an employee’s annual salary, retention will be vital to a company’s survival.
The key to retaining tech workers, Venakis says, is education and training: over 90% of tech employees said they wanted more training opportunities, while 62% felt an increase in learning opportunities would motivate them more at work.
“Employees need to know their career path within an organization, and this goes hand-in-hand with upskilling training,” he says. “The tech industry is one of the most challenging industries in terms of training, mainly because technologies evolve so rapidly, rendering previously acquired technical skills obsolete.”
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Onboarding, Venakis also points out, often fails these workers, leaving them to absorb on-the-job training when it comes to certain technical or soft skills. In turn, 65% of tech workers crave more formal training, and nearly half are eager for focused programs to help develop such soft skills as communication, leadership and time management.
“Even though hard skills are preferred by six out of 10 tech workers, soft skills are not far behind, and this is a bit unexpected for tech roles.” Venakis says. “While knowledge evolves rapidly and ITs have to constantly learn new technologies, the soft skills are the ones that are truly transferable from one role to another.”
Implementing these programs is an investment that employers will likely find to be less costly than talent acquisition — and they can be an immediate morale booster. Another TalentLMS survey found that 81% of employees engaged in training programs reported a boost in productivity.
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“Employers admit that training is necessary, but at the same time they hesitate to allocate enough time and resources, assuming that employees will figure it out, even at their own time and expenses,” Venakis says. “Formal training on technical skills ensures that people can become quickly productive without rushing things, while training on soft skills safeguards the organization’s culture and well-being.”
