As IT talent wars re-emerge, employers aim to retain their staffs
As IT talent wars re-emerge, employers aim to retain their staffs by exposing them to new technology and offering improved benefits.
The industry hasn’t returned to the crazy days of dot-com mania, when companies provided free meals, gift certificates, concierge services and other perks to retain top IT talent. However, IT executives are reporting an increase in employee turnover and the need to focus more on retention strategies.
“There’s been a return to hiring as the economy has strengthened, and certainly concerns about retention of talent connected to legacy systems and critical technology and business initiatives,” says David Foote, president of Foote Partners, an IT research firm. “Our findings indicate the reemergence of talent wars, but on a smaller scale than in the past and more industry focused.”
One of the factors driving the need for IT expertise is that employers are becoming more selective about which network operations and applications they outsource . Some organizations that haven’t upgraded their software or hardware in a few years have reached the point where they need to overhaul their systems, while merger and acquisition activity spurs demand for systems integration, Foote says.
With increased demand for IT talent, salaries are going up. In a study released last month, Foote Partners found that overall pay for non-certified technology skills had grown 3.8% and certified technology skills 1.3% in the first half of 2005. The skills with the greatest pay growth were operating systems , networks, database and applications development. In contrast, 18 months ago pay for these same skills were dropping 7% to 10% per year.
David Kennedy, director of IT at Stone Energy, says he’s been able to retain staff in his 26-person IT shop because of excellent benefits and the opportunity to work on the latest network technology. In fact, most of his staff have been with the company for at least five years.
Stone Energy’s network connects its headquarters in Lafayette, La., with key offices in New Orleans, Denver and Houston. The network also serves far-flung users on oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains and the plains of Wyoming. It supports leading-edge applications such as VoIP, WiMAX and remote data storage and application.
“We’ve been real successful at retaining our WAN and routing guys,” he says. In addition to giving employees access to hot technologies, he attributes the longevity to the company’s benefits package. “We try to be at market rates for salaries, but we have a multi-legged stool with our health benefits, 401(k), restricted stock grants and bonuses. When you put it all together in a package, it’s hard to find anything that good elsewhere.”
Kennedy says he’s receiving many résumés from IT workers who want to join his staff. He plans to hire a systems analyst, systems engineer and development intern for his team.
“I’m seeing a lot more people come and knock at my door,” he says. “They’re getting more confident in the market. In the past, you were happy to have your job and you were just quiet about doing it. Now I think more folks are looking.”
Organizations such as Stone Energy that are upgrading their networks and deploying new technology are finding it easier to retain their IT staff.
Michael Benedetto, associate director of IT at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, says that during the last 18 months his staff has overhauled the infrastructure and security systems on his organization’s network. Among the museum’s recent purchases are leading-edge DNS appliances that replaced aging Unix servers running Berkeley Internet Name Domain software.
In addition to raising the security profile of the network through DNS appliances, patch management and intrusion detection, the museum is upgrading its switching and routing infrastructure, adding multicast video and deploying wireless.
So far, Benedetto is not seeing much turnaround in his 30-person IT shop, five of whom are dedicated to network operations. The museum is a nonprofit organization, and its IT salaries are comparable to other nonprofit organizations in the New York area.
“We’re not having a mass exodus of people. The market is definitely opening up a little bit, but a lot of people have stayed because of where we work,” Benedetto says. “I can’t tell you one reason why everyone is staying, but [access to new] technology may be a big part of it. Because we do most of our work ourselves, most of our people are challenged.”
Improving benefits and offering work-from-home policies is not enough to ensure employee retention, says Barbara Marchetti, president of Preferred Resource Group, an Andover, Mass., firm that offers IT recruiting, staffing and training advice.
“If companies don’t take the time to sit back and address how they’re going to attract and retain IT talent, they’re going to be back in two-year hiring cycles,” Marchetti says. “What gets IT folks jazzed is exposure to the newest and the latest technology.”
Marchetti recommends that companies provide ongoing technical, business and professional training for IT staff.
“IT folks need an education in how IT affects the enterprise, both for their internal and external customers,” she says. “Companies need to provide them with access to developing skills that go beyond technology. . . . They should be part of cross-functional teams where business initiatives for the company are being looked at, not just IT.”
