Trends in the IT Technical Recruitment Marketplace
Trends in the IT Technical Recruitment Marketplace

As the owner of an IT technical recruitment agency specialising in the Managed Service space, I have to say that the changes happening in the marketplace at the moment are bigger and faster moving than at any time in my memory. I am sure this is the same for all IT Technical agencies whatever their niche in the market.

Changes in working practices, the ever-increasing use of technology, the rise of digital marketing, the move to cloud-based computing, and a mass of on add-on services such as online video services, training portals and more, mean that establishing and maintaining best practices in modern tech recruitment agencies has become a major challenge for owners and managers.

In general, IT recruitment has tended to be a candidate driven business, but never more so than now.

The UK economy has over 1 million unfilled vacancies in all sectors and the technology industry is very much at the forefront of this gap between the number of roles available and the shortage of qualified job candidates.

The demand for all IT Support staff has never been higher. This is a result of the huge growth in IT Support jobs, with a substantial demand for 1st/2nd/3rd Line Help Desk and Escalation Engineers, often needed to deal with the move to remote working. Demand for professionals for these IT Support roles is currently outstripping supply. In particular for 3rd Line and Escalation Engineers as well as Networking and Security Engineers, plus Cloud Specialists around Azure and AWS.

MSPs have also been adding specialist engineers in Cloud Computing, Networking, and IT Security as demand for these services increases from clients. Consequently, the demand for IT professionals in these areas is also very high.

Also, as we move on the from the pandemic, companies have now started to initiate the IT projects previously put on hold. This combined with the fact that the availability of new technology has increased IT spend in every sector, companies feel they cannot afford to fall behind their competitors. Consequently, there is a large demand for Project Engineers and Project Managers.

The conundrum of finding enough new IT professionals to help companies maintain their growth while keeping existing staff happy and managing costs is a very real one for many employers.

The basic rule of supply and demand is that a shortage means that you must pay more for that item or service. There was already considerable wage inflation in many IT roles due to the shortage of qualified professionals and that pressure continues and is growing.

Companies are now often faced with having to pay higher wages for new staff even when they have less technical skills than their employees. In effect, many existing staff within MSPs are under now effectively underpaid by market rates.

Our job as an IT recruitment agency is to help them solve this problem. That means finding enough qualified IT candidates, who are financially realistic and committed to the types of positions available. We, as with most IT recruitment agencies, are finding that very challenging.

However, there are a wealth of options available to IT recruitment agencies to maximise the chances of finding the perfect IT professional for the client. This includes using technology to automate recruitment processes around core tasks, increasing training in areas such as LinkedIn, and referral systems to make the most of the recruitment existing database of qualified candidates. Plus, investing in marketing is essential for any IT recruitment agency in today's marketplace.

As we move into Spring 2022, we have a range of roles in all levels of IT Support, including specialist positions such as Senior Networking, Cloud, or IT Security Engineers, as well as Service Desk and Delivery Managers, and all levels of Project Engineer and Management roles. These roles are often working with the latest technologies and with companies that are committed to training, development, and accreditations so it is an exciting time to be running an IT recruitment agency.

It looks like it is going to be a great year full of growth for our clients and with outstanding opportunities for IT technical candidates.

If you are an IT professional looking for a new role or a potential client looking to recruit IT Support or Helpdesk professionals, IT Technicians, or IT Engineers, we can help you! Get in touch by emailing us at contact@tsrltd.co.uk or calling us on 020 3837 9180. We look forward to speaking with you!