Monthly Musings: Dec 2023 - Reflection and the Road Ahead

Introduction

Welcome to my monthly musings on the world of Technology recruitment.

Every month, I meet and speak with Technology and Talent Acquisition leaders to discuss their challenges, opportunities, and perspectives on the market.

The insights I share here are further amplified by the feedback and discussions across the wider Emmbr team. We live and breathe all things related to the technology talent market.

The purpose of this monthly update is to share what we’re hearing, seeing, learning and reading. I’ll also bring to life some of the latest market intel and commentary from the polls and content I share on LinkedIn each week.

I hope you enjoy and get value from my musings. If you have any comments, thoughts, observations or questions you’d like to pose then feel free to DM me Anton Roe 🚀

I love to receive feedback and will keep shaping my monthly update to be a valuable resource for you.

2023 in review

When I look back over the last 12 months, I feel the labour market has shifted back to a BAU mindset after two years of unprecedented (I haven’t used that word for a while!) hiring.

I’ve read varying reports about the number of job transitions that took. As a rough estimate, 60% of the professional workforce changed jobs between January 2020 and July 2023. This compares to a typical rate of job change at 15-20% each year. Over 2.5 years this would equate to around 40% of people transitioning.

What we also saw through the COVID period was significant salary increases through the additional number of career moves (added to those who remained with their employer and were “counter-offered” to do so).

The result of this heightened activity is that many organisations are now reporting sub-10% staff turnover in technology. There are pros and cons to this level of staff retention. The upside is the continuity of the team and the reduced cost of hiring/onboarding new people. The downside is the growth in issues of underperformance and quiet quitters.

First up we had the Great Resignation, followed by the Great Job Boom, we’ve not got the Great Gloom

What this is suggesting is we have a workforce being paid significantly more than pre-COVID. This leads to higher expectations of performance and productivity from employers, which is not always achieved. We then have an increased demand for people to return to the office (not a popular view for most and seen as contrary to the flexible working arrangements born out of COVID).

 This discontent usually corrects itself with some people taking a step back or sideways to relieve their work pressure. However, inflation and rising interest rates have put increased pressure on the need to remain in roles, despite individuals feeling stressed, stretched, disconnected and burned. This is a big generalisation, but it’s something we are consistently hearing from candidates at all levels: the message of “I want to look for a new role as I’m not happy but can’t afford to do so” and “I’m concerned about the economy”.

 To compound matters, the reduction in voluntary resignations means there are fewer job roles available. The majority of recruitment is to replace someone who is leaving. When people are not resigning, there are ultimately fewer jobs to backfill.

My prediction is this will start to shift next year.

With inflation slowly coming down and less noise around interest rates increases, confidence will increase in the stability of the economy. As a result, people will start to move again. I don’t believe we’ll see the same type of job boom as 2020-2022, but there will be a greater movement of people through this process.

The question is how this impacts wage inflation.

We’ve seen tech salaries stagnate this year. This is partly due to fewer people moving jobs (the salary you replace someone with is typically higher than the outgoing person).

 I also believe salary will not be the biggest driver for people moving roles. It will be more about work-life balance, and it will be about the expectations in a role.

Word on the (Linkedin) street

Most weeks I post a Poll on LinkedIn to get a read on a current topic.

Where are people looking for their next move?

I should acknowledge, that this question was asked on Linkedin. Still, I’m surprised to learn that 73% of people prefer LinkedIn as a job-searching platform vs Seek.

The feedback I have had from candidates is that they prefer LinkedIn as they can research the company, see if they have mutual connections, reach out to these people to get a referral into the role and assess the quality of the current team.

 Whereas Seek simply has the job ad, and not a lot more.

 LinkedIn provides social proof. A concept which permeates every aspect of everyday life.

 I should add that I would never advocate for a single approach to look for a new role. I was simply interested in which of the two primary job boards people preferred.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Compared to this time last year, how is your happiness at work? 

Again, an interesting response – 43% of people are less happy.

I did this poll off the back of the Great Gloom article and wanted to put it to the test.

43% less happy at work is a pretty sad indictment. That said 34% are happier at work! And that’s something to both celebrate and also understand.

Are you happier at work compared to 12 months ago? Let me know in the comments

Finally, How much does the economic uncertainty impact your decision to look for a new role?

47% said the economy is a major factor, and 33% said it is somewhat a factor.

Only 20% are not concerned about the economy when looking for a job.

When you add this response to the lack of happiness at work, it presents a strong case for the Great Gloom. Hopefully, the economy continues to track in a positive direction, so confidence to change jobs can improve.

What can your recruiter do for you?

Over the last few months, I have been speaking to the people we have placed into roles this year. I’ve been asking for their feedback to understand where we can add the most value.

 I was interested to learn, that the biggest support we provide is not in the resume or LinkedIn profile advice, nor is it in negotiating the best package. It is in the coaching we provide throughout the interview process.

Almost everyone has cited the impact of the Emmbr team on calming their nerves, providing insight into the interview panel and the company culture, as well as just the general logistics of checking the Zoom or Teams set-up.

This is a big acknowledgement of our ethos at Emmbr to guide people through the challenging, and often daunting, process of finding a new role.

We know we can’t help everyone find their next role, but we can help everyone with our knowledge and experience.

The Emmbr Learning Hub has been designed to provide this learning content, free of charge.

Thank you for reading!

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As I mentioned earlier, also free feel to DM me with your feedback and questions

***BREAKING NEWS***

Last week we launched Tales from Tech Titans, a podcast series where some Australia's leading tech leaders share the story of their journey to the top.

Check out Tales from Tech Titans here:

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