It’s no secret that out of all the industries “Tech” (software) faces the most attrition. Even when it provides some of the best benefits among the different industries present in the market.
If you work for the tech industries you are familiar with benefits like health and dental insurance, paid time off, flexible spending amount, bonus pay, relocation programs, retirement plan and many more.
55% of tech workers cite benefits as a major deciding factor when they consider an offer in a report published by Hired.
Still, out of all the industries IT industry attrition rate was the highest standing at 13.2% as per LinkedIn’s data of half a billion professionals.
As per Maren Hogen (talent acquisition marketing expert)-
- 1/3rd of new hires quit the job after a 6 month period.
- 1/3rd already knew if they would stay in the company long-term after the first week in the company.
- And, 1/3rd leaders at companies with 100 employees are currently looking for jobs.
As per the insight and the pundits, the tech industry is really suffering when it comes to attrition.
Let’s dig into the reason why employee attrition is so high in IT?
Reasons Why Tech Industry Faces Such High Attrition Rate-
1. No Growth Path
It isn’t a surprise that salaries play a major part for professionals to consider a job role. Salaries in the tech industry are undoubtedly decent and continuously hiked up so that they can acquire the best talent in the market.
However, the one common mistake they make is they think once they acquire the candidate the job’s done. Paying handsomely plays a big part in acquiring the candidate, however, providing them a growth path in the company is equally important.
They want to see if the company values their contribution and has a career path for them. If there’s no clear career path they probably won’t hang out in the company. And, if you combine this with flat salaries you will definitely have a high employee attrition rate.
2. Neck to Neck Competition
In some of our past blogs before we have talked about the recruitment industry being driven by the candidate.
A growing shortage of talent and a low unemployment rate has created competition amongst the tech recruiters. Employees don’t even have to look for other job opportunities The recruiters contact them and tempt them away from your business.
With the implementation of automation in recruiting the intensity of effort put in by the recruiters has really gone up. It’s like how you walk into a mall and you see all these signs of 50% off on different stores tempting you to go in, it’s somewhat similar to a professional too.
3. Culture of A Company
Back in the day culture wasn’t given much importance, but now the value of culture has increased gigantically. Professionals are looking for a culture that’s employee-friendly.
The same goes for organizations. They are trying to make the workspace more relaxed and transparent. They value professionals who gel well in their organization and create a happy and healthy environment.
If an organization wants to attract and retain employees, good work culture is the key. As it is it’s no secret that most IT professionals work in a stressed workplace.
Also, a significant number of tech companies don’t have a diverse workforce. In this day and age diversity is very important, where professionals from all backgrounds can come and work together. It plays a vital role for employees as it manifests itself in building a great reputation for the company, leading to increased profitability and opportunities for workers.
Even though organizations are trying to change their culture and diversify it, the organization still faces employee attrition as they haven’t changed the previous work culture.
Pay disparity and gender biases still prevail which puts in vain all the efforts of the human resource to change the company culture.
How To Reduce Employee Attrition Rate?
1. Manager And Employee Relationship
Manager and the employee work in very close proximity, therefore, the manager needs to be aware of what employee wants to do in their career and can put it across to the higher management.
They should track the accomplished goals of the employee and make sure they are recognized for it, this will help in retention. When the employee knows they will be recognized and rewarded for their hard work, they feel motivated.
They also value their organization as they know the organization values them.
2. Growth Opportunities (Lateral Hiring)
If there is a need to hire for a senior role or for a different role in your organization, the recommended way is to look internally first as this would provide the employees in your organization to progress in their careers.
For example- Let’s say you need a coder and you know there are a few people in the support team who know how to code, for XYZ reason they couldn’t get into coding. You might want to give them a chance first before you look outside for a new candidate.
The organization should provide them with the necessary tools and training for the same, otherwise, the whole concept seems meaningless.
Giving your employees a chance at a senior level position or a new career aspect is much better than losing them to a competitor. Plus, the cost of recruiting new employees is much higher compared to retaining old ones.
3. Filter Internal Culture
Often while introducing new recruiting culture in the organization, the problem is that the recruiters or talent acquisition neglects to change the previous culture followed in the company.
For example- Team XYZ always has been an only “boys” team and they have 2 open positions to fulfill. Therefore, the recruiter thinks it would be a great idea to bring in two women in the team to increase the diversity of it. Even though they get two very talented female candidates, there might be a chance that team XYZ wouldn’t be very welcoming as they haven’t worked with females before.
To avoid such scenarios it would be better to train the employees of the company about the changes the recruiting team is going to bring, in terms of diversity.
These initiatives can be used as ways to control attrition in your organization!
