The latest Aldermore Future Attitudes report reveals that four in five (80 percent) of SMEs in the IT sector find it difficult to hire qualified staff members or keep existing talent in the company.
The study, which surveyed over a thousand business decision-makers across the UK, found that the most common concern for SMEs in the IT sector is hiring talented people (40 percent), with crucial employee positions often difficult to fill (24 percent).
Retaining good members of staff once they have been found is a concern for over a quarter of business leaders in the IT sector, with just under a third admitting to currently having a problem with a high workforce turnover. A quarter of companies in the IT sector find it hard to adequately develop employees who demonstrate great potential, and younger employees can be particularly difficult to keep on board (17 percent). A fifth says they have experienced an increase in staff leaving their business compared to a year ago.
Bosses in the IT sector say the most common motive is for a pay increase (22 percent), followed by a change in career (20 percent) and retirement (20 percent). Regarding where they then go, a third of their employees move to a larger company in a different industry, over a quarter (28 percent) land a job at a large organisation in the same sector and one in ten go to another SME in a similar industry.
Carl D’Ammassa, Group Managing Director, Business Finance at Aldermore, said: “It’s a job seeker’s market out there and this trend looks set to continue over the coming years. Talented workers within the SME industry can find new employment quite easily, with many individuals moving on when they feel they can get a better deal or could progress further and quicker in a different environment. Competition for the best industry talent has always been fierce, and business leaders need to put measures in place to ensure their companies are attractive places to work for ambitious employees.
“The best people can have a significant, positive impact on how that business performs, so therefore it is heartening to see that the majority of SMEs acknowledge that it is important to make an effort to keep talented people by offering a good work-life balance, flexible working, and valuable training. This is to be applauded, and many larger employers could learn much from their smaller peers about maintaining staff satisfaction.”
