Home 5 Benefits Attracting Tech Talent to Your Startup

5 Benefits Attracting Tech Talent to Your Startup

Solid tech talent is vital for any company to exceed. Unfortunately, within the next decade, companies can expect a serious dearth of technical applicants across the board. In fact, estimates put the shortage at around 85 million candidates by 2030.

If your company has a growing or anticipated need for technology gurus, take action now to ensure you minimize the effect this shortage could have on tomorrow’s operations. Below are several recruitment strategies aimed at wooing high performers from the tech industry into your organization.

Better yet, they ensure they’ll stick around for more than a year or two. The longer you retain exceptional superstars, the better positioned you’ll be to lead your industry without lagging behind.

1. Develop a robust top-shelf benefits package.

You probably already know that you should plan to pay competitively for top tech talent. Even lower-paid systems administrators fetch nearly $70,000 annually. Longtime network security architects can command close to $200,000 each year. Yet savvy job seekers aren’t just looking at salaries. They’re interested in what else a company offers in terms of benefits packages.

How can you boost your plan’s appeal for incoming tech folks? Add a small business 401(k) with a generous match. An average match across the board is 4.3 percent of an employee’s pay, per Investopedia figures, but you could up the ante by going to 6 percent. Other competitive benefits to sweeten the deal include fully funded comprehensive health insurance that includes partners, extensive paid time off that’s accruable, life insurance options, and attractive personal development stipends.

2. Give tech personnel a voice.

We’ve all heard of the stereotypical tech employee who sits in a back room and is rarely seen. That’s a myth that needs to end — technology professionals deserve to contribute to the decisions made at various levels in your company. If you’ve never given your technicians the chance to add their ideas to marketing brainstorms, sales funnel conversations, new hire interviews, or other dialogues, now is the time to bring them in.

When you tap into the brainpower of everyone on your team, including techies, you get an important perspective that can often be overlooked. Plus, you make all employees feel heard and valued. As a result, you may see a noticeable uptick in worker engagement, which studies show helps lower employee turnover.

3. Consider making remote work the norm.

You’ve always housed technicians on site. But could they realistically perform their duties just as well remotely? In the past four years, statistics culled by FlexJobs indicate that remote working opportunities have increased by 44 percent in the United States alone. Many analysts believe that telecommuting may be the wave of the future, especially after employers discovered how easily it could be done during the coronavirus pandemic.

Allowing your technicians to work out of their home offices does more than just improve morale or provide flexibility. It also expands your job search reach. You can virtually roam the world looking for the most applicable fit for your technical job openings. That broadens your ability to find and onboard individuals you would otherwise have overlooked.

4. Support technology programs at schools and colleges.

Where are your future technology leaders? If they’re members of Generation Z, they’re in high school, college, or graduate school. Sure, you could wait until they graduate to approach them. On the other hand, why not make inroads with them today by turning your corporation into a visible and vocal advocate of technology and learning?

From technology-related scholarships to summer internships, your company can brand itself as a tech-forward, tech-friendly organization. Ask your current tech employees what types of outreach they feel would be most appropriate. Then, get out and support young people as they work toward launching careers in technical fields. Be sure to talk about any outreach on your social media pages and blog for maximum publicity and positive messaging.

5. Set up mentoring opportunities for tech employees.

Many technical workers feel a desire to learn from others at the company, and maybe even branch out into non-linear career paths. Get to know each of your technology employees to find out what they’d like to focus on professionally so you can help them find the best mentors throughout the company.

The more hands-on and personal relationships your tech employees have within the company, the higher loyalty should be across the board. And let’s face it: Loyal employees tend to stay rather than leave, even when tempted by higher salaries. In order to boost ties with technology whizzes, you have to give your time and commitment.

Unless you’re satisfied with a watered-down technical team, not to mention constant employee churn, rethink your recruitment techniques. By tweaking your benefits, branding, and culture, you could turn your organization into one that appeals to some of the strongest tech prodigies poised to make their mark.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Brad Anderson
Former editor

Brad is the former editor who oversaw contributed content at ReadWrite.com. He previously worked as an editor at PayPal and Crunchbase.

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