Do what it takes to keep your best tech talent
Suman Thareja
Partner, New Jersey
The recent spate of layoffs in tech and the likelihood that belt-tightening measures continue into 2023 are laying a big trap for companies: they’re in danger of losing their best tech talent. While it’s important to be ready to capture the expanding pool of talent entering the marketplace, companies cannot afford to lose focus on their own people. There are two reasons for this. One is that the best talent hitting the marketplace is snapped up quickly, making it hard for larger companies to compete. Of the approximately 160,000 tech workers who have been laid off so far in 2022 in the United States, 72 percent of them have found new jobs within three months, according to an analysis from Revelio Labs.¹
And two, whether we think of it as the “great resignation” or the “great reshuffling,” it isn’t over. Though we can expect the numbers to moderate some if economic conditions worsen, many tech workers are still choosing to leave their jobs. The number of technical job openings in the United States, for example, has grown to over 5.5 million, adding more than 130,000 jobs in November 2022 alone.² And when tech workers change jobs, 80 percent of them move to different organizations to do so.³
These realities mean that leaders need a plan to retain their best tech talent in 2023. To keep people engaged, companies should take three actions. One, they should actively keep their talent involved in decision making (even the small decisions). Two, they should use the “quiet” to upskill their people to demonstrate commitment to their growth and prepare for when the economic outlook brightens (a surefire way to lose their best people is have them work on mundane technology maintenance tasks). And three, they should maintain trust of their people by honoring offers, for example, because tech talent and others pay attention to how companies behave during what could be tough economic times.
¹ “You got laid off. What’s next?” Revelio Labs, December 20, 2022.
² “The Employment Situation Summary,” US Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2, 2022.
³ “Human capital at work: The value of experience,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2, 2022.