42 per cent firms struggling with finding tech talent globally: Survey

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Nearly 42 per cent of organizations globally are struggling with sourcing quality tech talent globally, while 20 per cent cited the time taken to close a tech position as the primary challenge, a survey said on Monday.

The survey by talent assessment company Mercer|Mettl found that more than 32 per cent of organizations lacked sufficient knowledge about the tools for conducting effective assessment methodologies across all the stages of the hiring process. 

Lack of budget came a close second for nearly a quarter of the respondents (24 per cent), said the survey titled 'Tech Hiring & Technology Adoption Trends 2019'.

"As everybody is onboarding the automation bandwagon, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain quality tech talent. This is mostly on account of inadequate knowledge regarding tech-driven best practices and widening demand-supply gap," said Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer|Mettl.

Moreover, 12 per cent of companies did not have a competency framework in place and nearly one-fifth (21 per cent) depended on face-to-face interviews to screen candidates. 

Except for the 18 per cent of companies that leveraged smart AI-based technologies to filter resumes, the rest relied on lengthy ways for pre-screening the applications. 

This not only caused the lead time to stretch unnecessarily but also lowered the success rate of the entire hiring process.

While evaluating candidates, proficiency in the required tech skills comprised the top criterion for 20 per cent of the organizations. 

On the other hand, 18 per cent of them tested the candidates with the view of up-skilling them as and when necessary. In this case, cognitive ability and learning agility formed the basis for evaluation.

Mercer|Mettl is currently partnering with over 2,000 global companies, 31 sector skill councils and more than 15 educational institutes across over 80 countries.

Mettl was acquired by Mercer in 2018, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth, and career.