Recruiting and retaining scarce information technology talent: a focus group study
| Published date | 01 September 1999 |
| Pages | 251-256 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635579910253805 |
| Date | 01 September 1999 |
| Author | Diane Lockwood,A. Ansari |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Recruiting and retaining scarce information
technology talent: a focus group study
Diane Lockwood
Seattle University, Seattle, Washington, USA
A. Ansari
Seattle University, Seattle, Washington, USA
Introduction
It is not surprising that there is a consider-
able current and forecast shortage in quali-
fied IT specialists (Computerworld, 1997-1998;
Kaufman, 1998). Computerworld (1998), for
example, states that there were 350,000 va-
cant IT jobs in the USA in 1998 with a forecast
of 1.3 million more IT workers needed in the
next decade. Added to the skills shortage, is
an average annual turnover rate of 13 percent
or higher (Computerworld, 1997/1998). Those
companies that manage to not only recruit
but also retain scarce IT talent have a
competitive advantage, since the costs of
turnover in terms of recruiting dollars and
lost project continuity are high. The purpose
of this study, therefore, was to investigate
what some companies are doing to recruit
and retain scarce IT talent. Are IT recruiting
practices today different than in the past? If
so, in what ways? What recruiting strategies
have some companies found to be particu-
larly successful? What retention strategies
have companies found to be particularly
successful? In short, what works and what
does not in the IT recruiting and retention
game?
Methodology
A focus group was used as the methodology
for this study because the authors wanted to
gain in-depth insights into various recruiting
and retention strategies, as well as specific
examples of successful (and relatively un-
successful) practices. In addition, alternative
contact methods such as phone and mail
questionnaires, while more generalizable,
are often regarded as having suspect motives
(i.e. perceived as competitive spying). It was
reasoned that in an academic setting, where
participants are encouraged to share prac-
tices with a small group of their known peers,
they might be more willing to be candid in
their remarks.
Participants in the focus group were se-
lected from a membership roster of a local
chapter in the Pacific Northwest of the
Society for Information Management. The
Society for Information Management is com-
posed of senior IT practitioners, usually at
the Vice President or Chief Information
Office (CIO) level of the company. All parti-
cipants had previously indicated their inter-
est in attending a forum on recruiting and
retention strategies. The focus group con-
sisted of 14 participants, ten of whom were
VP level and above from industry, and four
from professional recruiting firms. The
group facilitator was a PhD academic, with
private industry IT experiences. Of the ten
industry participants, eight were from large
Fortune 1,000 companies and two were from
government institutions. In total, partici-
pants represented 14 different organizations
(i.e. no two were from the same organiza-
tion). All participants were promised
anonymity. The session was intense, lasting
four-and-a-half hours. Participants were
asked the following questions:
1 What factors were important to IT re-
cruits in the past (pre-1990s)?
2 What is important to IT recruits today
(1998-present)?
3 In what ways, if any, are the old and new
recruiting paradigms the same? Different?
4 What recruiting strategies have you found
to be particularly successful?
5 What retention strategies have you found
to be particularly successful?
Responses to each of these five questions are
summarized in the next sections, followed by
discussions.
Similarities and differences
between old and new recruits
After participants brainstormed responses to
each question, they were encouraged to
prioritize them from ``most-to-least'' impor-
tant. In descending order of importance,
participants listed the following as being
important to IT recruits in the past (pre-1990):
1 money (base salary);
2 job security (based on longevity of the
organization);
3 interesting/challenging work;
4 training; and
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Industrial Management &
Data Systems
99/6 [1999] 251±256
#MCB University Press
[ISSN 0263-5577]
Keywords
Recruitment, Retention,
Manpower planning,
Information technology,
Employment,
Human resource planning
Abstract
Notes that it has become fiercely
competitive to recruit and retain
information technology (IT) talent
in today's tight labor market.
Cites two main reasons for IT
skills shortages. First, the number
of students graduating in the USA
with bachelor's degrees in com-
puter science declined more than
40 percent in recent years. Fore-
casts are that this trend will grow
even more during the next few
years. Second, according to the
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
demand for trained IT employees
has increased in the past few
years. The predicted labor short-
age for skilled IT staff will be
increasing by 1.3 million by year
2005. This labor crisis has forced
companies to develop new strate-
gies specifically to address re-
cruitment and retention of scarce
IT specialists. Describes effective
recruitment and retention prac-
tices, as described by participants
in this study, with the goal being
to provide useful information to
other employers of IT specialists.
The information used in this study
was based on an intensive focus
group study conducted with senior
IT managers and recruiters from a
number of local companies in the
Pacific Northwest.
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