The pandemic has broken the grip of corporations’ control of tech workers
It will come to no one’s surprise that the pandemic has drastically changed the landscape and dynamic of the global workforce, forcing companies worldwide to either adapt or fall victim to the swiftness of the new working norm.
Businesses scrambled to adjust, especially when making the switch to remote work arrangements; this, not only showed the true demeanor of an institution toward their employees, but also presented workers with a much more flexible vision of how they’d like to lead their professional lives.
Facing one lockdown after the other, employees stayed put with their refreshed view of the job market; up until various COVID-19 vaccines surfaced, and vaccination campaigns around the world started rolling out.
Now is the time for change.
Almost 77 percent of technology professionals will voluntarily leave their current jobs in search of new ones in 2021, according to the Michael Page Talent 2021 report.
The study highlighted that tech workers cited lack of growth opportunities, potential for higher pay and better benefits, and underutilized skills among the factors that would prompt the workforce to jump ship for another one that meets their goals.
Several IT companies have already taken note of this goal-oriented migration and have decided to employ various talent attraction strategies such as competitive remuneration and benefit packages, remote/flexible work arrangements, professional development opportunities, and constant technology advancement.
“Tech professionals are currently in great demand. Hence, it is pertinent for employers to consider remote and hybrid working models to expand the candidate pool to attract the best talent. Entrepreneurs who have had a stellar track record are now looking to shut shop and explore new opportunities due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And with that, companies can look to hire these entrepreneurial talents for their growth startups,” the report said.
This statement was echoed by Raya Khalife, Group HR & Quality Manager at Monty Mobile, a leading VAS & telecom solutions provider, who considers that hybrid model is indeed on the rise around the world.
“The pandemic has really shifted the workforce’s mindset in terms of being able to get the job done from the comfort of their own homes, which is really changing what employees are looking for,” Khalife told Inside Telecom.
The Michael Page study noted that skills within artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are on the rise in terms of demand, especially with skyrocketing adoption and migration to the cloud across public, private, and hybrid models.
Not only that, but larger tech and IT companies are attempting to shore up sizeable capabilities in automation and digital transformation, as they prep for the up-and-coming Industry 4.0, specifically within the manufacturing setups; with cloud architects, full stack engineers, and head of engineering roles being among the most popular.
The report also found that average salaries within the sector will also increase almost 15 percent to 25 percent from what is currently being offered.
But while better job benefits, pay, and work/life balance are considered the main tangible headlines of tech workers around the globe, an overwhelming number of professionals in the field are reporting cases of burnout from their workplaces during the pandemic, especially women.
Earlier in March, Girls in Tech reported in their 2021 study, “The Tech Workplace for Women in the Pandemic,” that male bosses have been burning women out at a lot more alarming rates than female bosses in the tech industry.
Girls in Tech, a San Francisco-based global nonprofit, works to erase the gender gap in the technology work sector.
“The results from our study were abundantly clear: women in technology are burned out from COVID and organizations must recognize this is at crisis-level,” said Adriana Gascoigne, founder, and CEO at Girls in Tech, adding “we were particularly stunned to learn the impact a supervisor’s gender has on women’s burnout rate.”
The study found that, among 552 members of Girls in Tech and other respondents between September 15, 2020 and October 22, 2020, 63 percent of women with male supervisors reported feeling burned out, as compared to 44 percent of those with female supervisors.
While the technology sector was once heralded as a workplace that would level the playing field between men and women of equal competency, this has not been the case. In a variety of studies – including the recent Girls in Tech – both the reality of gender treatment, and the perceptions among women are in the lower percentile.
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