Hays: Organisations need to review tech salaries and hiring strategies reasons? European-wide competition and the skills gap

In Romania, the rapid and unstoppable growth in demand for tech talent at local level has led to skills shortage –  too many vacancies and too few tech professionals. The challenge for local companies is even greater, as the number of specialists working as employees/contractors for international projects is increasing, so they must compete with European/UK/US rates. Along with this, the wealth of opportunities has influenced the recruitment process and the mindset of professionals when it comes to new jobs.

These are the headline conclusions of the Hays Technology Salary Guide 2022 for the Romanian tech market, the result of the survey conducted among tech professionals, supplemented with comments from our labour market experts.

Despite challenging last two years for many industries, the situation is looking more optimistic at the beginning of 2022 – the term “post-pandemic times” has entered the business dictionary for good. In Romania the technology sector is healthier than ever, showing stability and the power to adapt to new and ever-changing conditions.

Timur Makhmutov, Managing Director of Hays Romania, notes that the technology industries are the undeniable beneficiaries of this situation.

“Technology is fuelling the new world of work. The competition for talent is increasing salary expectations and actual offers – for both employees and contractors. There is no sign of this momentum slowing down in 2022. However, this trend is exacerbating the skills shortage in the technology market.”

SALARY EXPECTATIONS

HOW DO YOU CONVINCE TECH PROFESSIONALS TO JOIN YOU?

With this huge – global and local – shortage of tech experts, further increases in rates are to be expected in 2022. This is indicated by the results of our survey where technical (53%) and tech/digital (39%) were the main skills sought by employees, yet the most difficult to find.

The results also show that 44% of tech professionals in permanent employment (CIM) will accept a new job with the same level of responsibility if the salary is 21% – 30% higher compared to their current one, while 61% of contractors would accept the same level of pay. An increase of 0-10% is not seen as a viable raise for the vast majority tech professionals.

PERMANENT TECH PROFESSIONALS PERSPECTIVE | TECH CONTRACTORS PERSPECTIVE

Daniel Ciochină, Team Leader Hays Technology Permanent Recruitment, analysed the salary wages and declared:

“Average salary growth in the industry reached 20% in 2021. For instance, DevOps salaries increased by 15% and automated testing roles had a wage increase of 20%. Salaries for Software Developers are now 12-15% higher and leading roles have 8-10% higher incomes than in 2020.”

Teodora Şandru, Account Manager at Hays Technology Contracting Recruitment, mentioned about the salary trends in tech contracting:

“The demand for skills is growing more rapidly than the number of tech professionals that

possess them. This will increase pressure on companies to increase offers and further raise the expected rates for contractors, which have an average annual increase of 10%. We forecast this trend to continue.”

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

RECRUITMENT THROUGH A TECH PROFESSIONAL’S EYES

The survey results and the insight of our experts show that salary or pay rate are the key factors in attracting and retaining tech employees. But there are other components to consider, such as the recruitment process, offer management, length of the contract, flexible working and how comprehensive the benefit package is.

Looking in the right place and using specific tools will significantly increase the chances of hiring the best people in tech. Tech professionals are not usually applying on job portals – 71% of them are directly approached by recruitment agencies or potential employers. An efficient recruitment process and quick decision making will also increase the chances getting the top candidates onboard.

Beside the aspects mentioned above, an exciting and ambitious project can also influence contractor’s decision. Three out of five contractors want to stay where they are because they are working on interesting and challenging projects. Moreover, in contractor’s eyes the contract duration is seen as important or very important (95%). Generally, the longer the contract the more inclined they are to take the role, while most see one-to-two years as the sweet spot. This offers stability – important to 39% according to our survey – but also flexibility, with only 4% looking for a contract of more than two years.

Romania remains one of the most active technology hubs in Europe, no matter the period and circumstances. Technology has and will continue to be virtually responsible for keeping much of the economy running, making tech solutions indispensable in almost every industry. In order to win the competition for talent, companies are forced to meet the precise expectations of candidates and increase salary levels and pay rates.

However, it is becoming more and more of a challenge for companies to meet the constantly rising salaries and rates. Those at the forefront are staying ahead of the competition by reassessing the non-wage elements of their offer – useful benefits, better work-life balance, flexible working practices, game changing projects – and hunting down the best candidates rather than waiting for them to apply.

The technology landscape is transforming at an exceptionally fast pace – the optimal recruitment process is changing with it.

Hays plc is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2021 the Group employed c.12,100 staff operating from 254 offices across 20 specialisms.