Why use an IT recruitment agency?
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Article
by
Olivia Canedo
le
With the explosion in artificial intelligence (especially generative AI), Big Data and other technological innovations, the need for IT recruitment is now a reality in virtually every business sector . Indeed, many of the IT (information technologies) jobs are cross-functional, and companies need software and applications to manage their data, secure storage space, and efficient IT support services. Highly coveted on the job market, IT profiles are hard to find, and companies turn to generalist or specialist firms to meet their recruitment needs and turn their digital transformation projects into reality. How do these firms work? Why use an IT recruitment agency to recruit?
A steadily growing IT recruitment market
In a competitive job market, growth remains dynamic, despite an expected slowdown in recruitment in 2024 (+ 5.8%), compared to 2023 (+ 6.5%)[1].
Employment in the IT sector
IT and digital professions are still very popular. The digital sector is a major source of employment, accounting for one in six new hires in 2023, or 47,000 new recruits. The most buoyant sectors are financial services (banking and insurance), energy and industry, retail and consumer goods[2]. Despite a slowdown in recruitment and strong competition, start-ups also continue to show dynamism, with 23,000 net new jobs created[3].
For example, IT recruitment agencies are advertising a large number of vacancies, with profiles that are always in high demand, such as data scientist, devOps engineer, full stack developer, back end or front end developer, cybersecurity engineer or IT architect, to design the structure of information systems (CRM, ERP, HRIS) . Among the job offers published, certain fields and specializations are experiencing strong growth.
New key IT positions in 2024
With the acceleration of digital transformation, certain professions and specific skills are highly sought-after by IT recruitment agencies:
- Generative AI: Democratized with Chatgpt, generative AI represents a goldmine for digital companies and their customers, who are looking to recruit data and machine learning engineers in particular.
- Cybersecurity: recurring hacker attacks are capable of paralyzing a company. To fend off the risks and safeguard their data, many companies want to call on cybersecurity experts, generating tension over these profiles[4].
- Cloud computing : this set of IT services (remote servers, storage, networks, databases...) reduces infrastructure costs and increases agility of use. Cloud engineers and big data engineers are among the most sought-after profiles in this sector.
- Responsible digital : With the growing awareness of the impact of digital technology on the environment, and the desire to limit their carbon footprint, some sectors, such as GreenTech, are developing more and more. Others, such as Transport tech and Fintech, are also among those recruiting the most[5].
And while young graduates still have their place, one company in two now prefers to hire experienced profiles.
Recruitment difficulties in the IT sector
Tensions in the IT sector's employment situation have several origins.
- Animbalance between supply and demand
IT job vacancies abound on social networks such as Linkedinjob sites such asAPEC , and specialized portals (les jeudis, VDE, free-work...). In 2023, 57,000 IT job vacancies were identified in France[6]. These include positions forsystems and network engineers, IT technicians, analysts, integrators, maintenance technicians and more. However, 10% of available jobs remain unfilled[7].
- Alack of trained people
There's a shortage of talent in the IT and telecoms sectors, particularly for developer and engineer profiles: development engineer, systems engineer, data scientist, web developer . The lack of applications is due to a shortage of trained people in the digital sector, an industry that has long been the victim of geek clichés. What's more, in the absence of ongoing training, knowledge in this field quickly becomes obsolete.
- Strong competition
Growing needs linked to the digitization of companies ande-commerce, combined with a shortage of candidates, are creating strong competition, as well as pressure on salaries. This is why some companies find it advantageous to call on the services of an IT recruitment agency and specialized recruitment consultants.
- Tension on salaries
The imbalance between supply and demand, with candidates who are already very well paid turning to the highest bidder, represents a real problem for companies, especially small ones. In fact, they are finding it difficult to match the salaries offered by larger competitors and key accounts, who are offering higher salaries . What's more, the shortage of skills available on the market is hampering the growth of Digital Services Companies(ESN, ex. SSII) and Technology Consulting Engineering (ICT) companies.
The challenges of IT recruitment in startups
In a tense economic climate, with rising borrowing rates and a slowdown in financing, some startups are having to align themselves with the specific characteristics of their region in order to benefit from investment[8]. Faced with a crisis since the end of 2022, they have been cutting jobs as well as creating new ones, while continuing to recruit[9].
Recruiting for growth
The shortage of IT candidates, particularly for developer positions, is a major threat to the expansion of some French tech startups. What's more, their founders sometimes have noprofessional recruitment experience, and uncertainties remain as to how their structure will evolve. Calling on the services of a specialist IT recruitment agency can help startups and other digital companies find the best profiles, or even the rare pearl , and save them time. Thanks to direct approach recruitment, a tech recruitment agency is able to put forward the right arguments to convince a future employee, enhancing the employer brand at the same time, with the right reasons to apply.
Enhancing sustainability
For start-ups, deploying a strong employer brand is crucial to attracting the best candidates, those who will also be ready to follow them into the start-up adventure. To this end, the start-up's activity, technological innovation and social and societal responsibility can be highlighted. The aim is to promote sustainability in every sense of the word. In the same spirit, digital responsibility is becoming more and more of a preoccupation for candidates on the market. This is reflected, for example, in the strong growth of the Green Tech sector, with 5,000 jobs expected by 2023, i.e. one recruitment in five.
What are the solutions to the talent shortage?
Having a global vision of the sector and the tensions it faces enables us to implement appropriate solutions. A specialized firm can also advise the client company on how to optimize talent management and maintain performance. Various avenues can be explored:
- Consider continuing training as a lever for meeting the company's needs in terms of IT expertise and developing internal mobility.
- Facilitate retraining by building a new professional project. Bridges exist between certain professions.
- Call in a freelancer for a specific IT project or while you're waiting to recruit the ideal candidate.
- Welcoming and training work-study students.
- Offer agile working conditions (hybrid, telecommuting).
- Demonstrate flexibility in recruiting profiles and be open to atypical candidates, giving less importance to diplomas, in favor of technical skills and practical experience in the field.
- Expandrecruitment activities throughout France and internationally.
- Propose a remuneration policy with profit-sharing.
Call on a recruitment agency specializing in IT
In the IT sector, headhunting is the preferred method used by specialist recruitment agencies to pre-select the right profiles.
Benefits
- Expertise recognized by candidates
Their seductive approach is facilitated by the fact that specialized consultants know the technical terms and jargon of the IT professions . Trained in the IT field, they are able to talk to their targets about different languages, Java, frameworks and information systems, making them credible to potential candidates. What's more, they have the legitimacy to advise end-customers on the technical skills they're looking for, and have access to a high-quality pool of candidates.
- Reactivityand adaptability
As the need for IT skills is constantly evolving, specialized recruitment agencies can adapt their responses more easily, since they have a better knowledge of the market. They can better target potential candidates, those who match the required profile. Likewise, whether recruiting an executive, an IT expert, or a support technician, recruitment is secure, with a guaranteed result. If the new employee does not complete the trial period, the consulting firm will restart the recruitment process to find an operational candidate with successful experience.
- Optimal candidate experience and employer brand
The advantage of direct approach recruitment by a specialized recruiter is that it is easier to convince professionals already in post or passive candidates, who are not really looking for a job. The headhunter can respond immediately to each candidate 's questions, providing relevant information on the position to be filled, theworking environment, the company and the salary. The reactivity of the direct approach helps to optimize the candidate experience, while effectively promoting the client's employer brand, which in turn helps the client to stand out from the competition.
Why choose Skillink?
Dedicated to the world of tech, Skillink is ranked among the top recruitment agencies by the newspaper Les Echos, with the highest score (5 stars), for the 4th year running. Recognized expertise, combined with in-depth knowledge of IT profiles, guarantees our credibility with hard-to-recruit candidates.
For each exclusive recruitment assignment, the firm sets up a dedicated team with several consultants to carry out voluminous sourcing and effective headhunting, entirely dedicated to the customer's needs. By providing the human and material resources needed to complete each assignment, the firm guarantees the success of every recruitment.
[2]KPMG and Numeum, Grand angle ESN & ICT, September 2022
[3]https://barometrestartups.fr/?p=223