How IT managers use market analytics to up their talent game

January 23, 2018 | By Lisa Dare, TEKsystems Digital Content Strategist

“Demand is rising so quickly in this space, and the software that companies use to benchmark rates isn’t keeping pace,” explains A.J.

How market analytics solves problems

The right data and analysis can also help you plan a budget or make big decisions. For instance, Account Manager Kevin Dillon says he’s often asked to help his clients with their yearly budgeting. “I had a trucking logistics company in the throes of a major tech modernization, and they knew they needed to onboard a lot of Java developers in the next year. I gave them salary and rate expectations, which they were able to present to their boss and say, ‘If we’re going to achieve this, this is the budget we’ll need.’”

Market insight you should receive from a true staffing partner

Is your tech staffing agency providing insight you can’t get yourself? Not every staffing agency has the resources to provide this level of data analysis, but if you’re working with a staffing partner with deep ties in your market, they should at least be keeping their ear to the ground.   

• Supply and demand analysis of skills in your area: Your staffing partner should be able to tell you approximately how many of each skill type live in your area, what the supply to demand ratio is and how that’s shifting each year.
• A pulse on what’s going on in your area: Data is great but the numbers often don’t mean much without context. Ask your recruiting contacts how often they have in-depth conversations with IT pros and hiring managers to understand what’s really going on.
• Compensation analysis and rate benchmarking: This is where access to a lot of data comes in handy. As the largest IT staffing provider, we use both our internal data and outside tools to analyze compensation trends as they happen.
• What IT pros in your industry seek in a job beyond compensation: Developing a compelling employee value proposition is both art and science. In general, surveys can tell you how IT pros weight work-life balance, pay, flexibility and other perks, but it takes an experienced staffing pro to understand the nuances and what people in different industries and specializations respond to.     

The final piece: National trends

While local market knowledge is the most critical piece of the puzzle, you may be impacted by larger trends. For instance, if you’re looking for talent in a specialized field like ERP, your sourcing strategy may be national. Or you may want to know what issues other companies are facing in their transition to cloud infrastructure.

Kevin Dillon shares how he helped a software development company that was having trouble attracting talent in their region. “They started looking for alternative markets, and wanted to know where the resources were.” Working with our market research team, Kevin determined that Dallas—where the client already had an office—had a lot more of the talent the company needed, and with average salaries they could afford to pay. This was enough to convince the client’s company to build a development center in their existing facility.

Related

Find out about IT budgets, wages and trends in our 2017 IT Forecast.

Can IT recruiters be more than a ‘necessary evil’? Read What you should expect from your IT staffing partner.