Hiring Techs

When big companies have trouble hiring and keeping techs, as this article says, how can small companies hope to hire technical help? You probably can't match the salary or benefits of large companies. Luckily, technical people often value more than just money.

Two critical problems hurt large companies trying to hire and retain techs. First, they often release and refuse to hire older workers. Age discrimination remains a problem in many areas, but the feeling that technology can best be understood by young people really hits the tech ranks hard.

This idea may have been valid twenty years ago in the early days of personal computers, but no more. Many of the enterprise techs responsible for implementing desktop computers back in the day are now retiring, or getting shoved out. Take advantage of that experience and hire someone with gray hair.

Second, techs like flexibility and interesting problems to solve. Large companies have many technical chores to perform, and who likes chores? Smaller companies have fewer chores, and the techs can see first hand how their ideas improve their coworker's job performance. Give that gray haired tech some leeway in work hours and problem solving tools, and you'll be amazed at how much your technology will improve.

Finally, older workers leaned how to communicate back before Instant Messaging and phone texting. Yes, they can actually converse with other humans. They have manners. They usually have raised children to be responsible adults, meaning they won't panic if someone mouths off a little.

Older, more experienced techs may even solve technical problems using bizarre, low tech solutions like white boards to track open jobs rather than a database indexed by start date cross referenced by expected completion date. It's amazing how simple some complicated problems get when viewed through bifocals.

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