Before we look at how current workforce strategies resonate with the needs and desires of tech professionals, we will look at the extent to which tech professionals' thoughts align with those of other professionals from across the EMEA region.
What Talent Wants
ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY VS WHAT TALENT WANTS
A SENTIMENT SENSE CHECK
Tech and non-tech professionals generally display similar trends when it comes to satisfaction levels around jobs, pay and work-life balance. But when we zoom into different regions, some dissonance does appear. We can see this most clearly with remuneration in Central Eastern Europe (CEE), where tech professionals appear to be more satisfied with their pay than non-tech professionals. As we will see later, tech professionals in Poland, the largest CEE country, received higher salary increases last year than elsewhere in EMEA. Many of these raises can, however, be attributed to organisation-wide increases made in response to soaring costs of living. Inflation has been considerably higher in CEE than in the other regions of this study.
Nevertheless, as you can see from the charts on the right, tech professionals and non-tech professionals do generally share common sentiment across EMEA. It's difficult to determine whether this is because tech has permeated every role or because individuals from diverse backgrounds make up the EMEA tech workforce.
Either way, it's safe to say that organisations that understand these shared priorities but also consider regional differences and practice inclusive policies will be more successful in attracting the best tech talent.
INFLATED PAY EXPECTATIONS?
Despite the shared sentiment, it is evident from the first chart above that tech professionals do generally have a slightly more positive outlook on their remuneration than workers from other industries. As you can see from Chart 1 on the left, they also experienced fewer pay reductions in 2022, with a larger share of them receiving increases of +10% or more.
As Chart 2 shows, these increases were often the results of switching jobs, performance achievements, or receiving inflation-adjusted increases. Though these were common trends among both tech and non-tech workers, we can see that more tech professionals got raises from switching organisations than non-tech professionals did.
Chart 3 shows that tech professionals are anticipating even greater salary increases in 2023. This expectation is understandable. It could be that the tech professionals in new roles are rightly anticipating their first raise from their initial 12–24 months in their new companies. It could also be because 44% of all tech professionals didn't receive any raise at all in 2022. This second explanation could link into a stat we explore later, that 42% of tech professionals are planning to leave their current jobs.
It may well be cheaper to pay the raise than employ someone new.
SPAIN AND POLAND UNDER THE LENS
Analysing the contrasting scenarios in Spain and Poland provides key insights into the evolving dynamics of the tech job market. It also highlights how local economic factors can shape these landscapes, a pattern which may reflect broader dynamics between Southern and Central Eastern Europe.
Watch the video for analysis:
BEYOND THE PAY PACKET
Across EMEA, employers and tech talent concur on the most important factors beyond salary. These include the overall benefits package, career development opportunities, work-life balance, engaging and challenging projects, and a positive work environment, which consistently rank among the top five considerations in most countries and regions. Employers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland emphasise task variety and the promotion and consideration of work-life balance as crucial factors in employee retention.
However, it is worth noting that non-monetary benefits can vary significantly from country to country. For specific insights into the most relevant benefits in each market, you can download the specific Hays Salary Guide of any country of your interest.
PROMOTE TO RETAIN
Looking at career progression opportunities, we can see that while employers cited career development as the second most important factor in attracting and retaining talent, a significant portion of tech professionals do not perceive sufficient scope for advancement. In fact, more than half don't anticipate receiving a promotion this year at all.
Tech professionals place a high premium on career development. Without a clear path for progression within their current companies, it could only be a matter of time before these professionals start considering opportunities with competitors that offer clearer routes up the ladder.
To address this challenge, employers should prioritise internal mobility programs that enable tech professionals to explore different roles, upskill, and advance their careers.
KEEPING REMOTE CONTROL
Many organisations are recognising the benefits of hybrid or remote work models, considering their employees' preferences and the positive effects it can have on work-life balance. This shows that while some organisations don't see work-life balance as such a major attraction factor as potential tech candidates do, they are putting employee preferences and wellbeing at the forefront of their workforce strategies.
Employers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland see the successful implementation of hybrid and remote work as a retention tool for their workforce management. They chose having transparent regulations and fixed days as the joint most important factors in making this a success (see Chart 4).
On the other hand, this study has found that a considerable number of employers believe returning to the office could boost productivity, and business leaders have criticised the effects of remote working on collaboration, creativity, company culture, and integrating new starters. However, reverting to a completely office-based model could be seriously detrimental to employee retention rates and hinder an organisation's ability to attract top talent. This is particularly critical when it comes to tech professionals, whose roles normally require a high degree of autonomy and can be carried out from anywhere. Indeed, 43% of tech professionals surveyed would not even consider an office-based role.
Tech professionals know their worth and know the demand. If they don't see location as an important factor, organisations trying to hire them should focus their efforts on transmitting their Employer Value Proposition and differentiating themselves with a strong remote working policy, rather than selling an office location. Doing so will be advantageous in an already tight skills market.
SWITCH UP THE STRATEGY
Are too many businesses searching for the same skillsets in the same places at the same time? The technology talent market is already stretched, but with such fierce competition for skills, knowing what's important to talent will only go so far. Future-forward businesses can adapt their hiring approaches to beat their competitors to the skills they need.
In the next section, we touch on some of these approaches and look at what organisations have today, and what they'll need for the tomorrow they are aiming for.
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