Australia’s Telecommunications Labour Shortage – How to Regain Control and Get the Candidates You Need

Currently, in Australia, we are experiencing a shortage of Telecommunications professionals for labour hire. As often happens in these cases, businesses go into panic mode and tend to take a reactive approach, rather than continuing to focus on long-term strategy and processes for hiring.

According to the Department of Jobs and Small Businesses, employers are generally attracting low numbers of suitable applicants, which is resulting in unfilled vacancies of around 50 per cent in 2017; a record low.

It seems this current market situation started with the NBN project and more recently has come from the mobile operators looking to build and upgrade their networks and spending billions of dollars acquiring new sites and installing Telecommunication infrastructure. The demand keeps growing but the candidate pool is not.

So far, we are seeing these shortages in skilled Telecommunications Project Managers and Project Directors, as well as Civil and Project Engineers, Telco Field Engineers and Riggers, and now Town Planners and SAED specialists (Site Acquisition, Environmental and Design professionals), who are currently in serious demand.

With no end to this labour shortage in sight, it is important for companies to start looking at their long-term resourcing plans and put an end to the reactive approach.

Consequences of a reactive process

With high demand comes demanding candidates. In some cases, rates for these professionals has increased 50 per cent above what it was just two years ago. Of course, it is through no fault of their own; when you’re in high demand, someone will be willing to pay you high rates. It happens in every candidate short market, and we can’t blame these candidates for enjoying the benefits of being highly sort after. Instead, it is the responsibility of businesses to try to retain a little control, rather than giving it all to the candidate.

As we’ve also seen with the shortage in IT Project Services, rushing the hiring process, and paying the exorbitant rates right off the bat is going to result in disloyal hires who will simply jump at the next, higher paying, opportunity.

Regaining control in a candidate short market

Regaining control is all about looking long-term so that you can have a new confidence in your process. This is going to make you less likely to compromise or throw your budget away.

Look at your value proposition beyond remuneration

This is the time to take a step back and think about what your company offers candidates, aside from remuneration. Play to your strengths and really highlight (and follow through on) the other benefits to candidates joining your organisation. Whether it’s extra leave, working from home, or professional development allowances; focus on positioning these perks more heavily. If you do not have any company perks to make you competitive, it may be worth looking into establishing some.

Consider upskilling

If the candidate market isn’t growing at the rate you need it to, and your needs aren’t going away any time soon, perhaps it’s time to look at education initiatives internally to help bring more skilled professionals into the market. Development opportunities are a great employment perk and garner loyalty from those in the program.

Work with those in the know

We all need help from time to time, and having a relationship with a recruiter specialising in this area is beneficial to help you not only hire the best people but also to learn about what’s happening in the market and how you can survive it. That’s where we come in. With over 10 years specialising in Telecommunications recruitment, we can help you to remain in control in a candidate short market.

Give us a call today to discuss the current telecommunications recruitment landscape and who we have available for your next project.

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Rising Demand for DevOps Professionals – 2009 to Now and Beyond

Demand for DevOps candidates is rising. In the past year, we have seen more and more organisations pushing to introduce DevOps into their business, or expanding the team currently in place. Observing this growth, we began to think about the space and just how much it has evolved. After all, it was not even a decade ago that the term DevOps was first coined, when Patrick Debois hosted the “devopsdays” conference in Belgium.

Since the creation of the term in 2009, the DevOps space has blossomed, and tech businesses have quickly adopted teams of these professionals, recognising their function as a necessary piece in the development puzzle.

A quick history

DevOps came from the need to de-silo development and operations to more efficiently move through development, with minimal bottlenecks on the operations side. Originally DevOps began utilising existing software development methodologies, like Waterfall or Agile. Today, the function of DevOps is to design processes specific to the needs of the business. Some may leverage existing software development methodologies but without relying on them entirely.

As this role has matured, so too have the practices, processes and technologies that support it. DevOps has gone from playing a role in optimising for cost, to now also optimising for speed; a combination that is critical for most modern businesses to stay competitive. In addition to improved processes and turn around, these individuals ensure better communication and collaboration between the teams.

Why so popular?

The way that we deliver software has changed. What could once take years of development is now expected to be delivered in a fraction of the time. Having a DevOps culture means businesses can release products and features a lot quicker, speed to market is increased and collaboration between the operations team and development team is improved; thus increasing communication and an effective workforce.

DevOps includes continuous development and continuous integration, allowing for better integration with other systems through Open Source coding.

It’s more prevalent in this day and age that companies produce goods more rapidly and more effectively, which is why DevOps has been formed, and exactly why the need for these individuals is growing exponentially. As demands from customers increase, both in terms of range and fast turn around, DevOps professionals are working to remain two steps ahead and keeping projects advancing in rapid time.

Looking ahead

DevOps professionals are scarce and will only become more scarce as the space grows faster than the professionals entering the market. Businesses should be wary of people who call themselves DevOps professionals but are actually not in practice. We already see this happening today and it may become more of an issue moving forward as businesses are tempted to look at under-skilled people to meet their needs.

To avoid getting caught out, you need to know what you’re looking for. If you don’t know how to find DevOps professionals, you’ll need a good agency on your side. Of course we would say that, but the reality is that we work all day every day in this space and have deep networks with some of the most successful DevOps professionals. 

Get in touch with us today.

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What is workplace flexibility? And why it’s critical you offer it

These days it seems that at least 85 percent of my candidates are asking about flexibility. A fair question when moving through a recruitment process, especially if they are weighing up a number of opportunities. What I have come to realise is that “flexibility” means different things to different people, and merely stating that you offer flexibility may get someone interested, but it doesn’t mean that you are speaking the same language. It is also now a question that comes to the top of a full range of candidates lists of priorities and is no longer just the parent’s that ask.

In candidate short markets, attracting top talent requires being open to offering flexibility. This will put your business on a level playing field with highly sort-after employers, like the Google’s of the world, who have long offered these perks to secure and retain the best people.

The Fair Work Ombudsman describes flexibility in the workplace as employers and employees making arrangements about working conditions that suit them. They suggest this can be formal; a standard flexibility offering that all employees are entitled to. Or individual; specific flexibility negotiated between the employer and a particular individual, with the arrangement tailored to their needs.

What is flexibility?

Keeping in mind that we all have vastly different needs, it is easy to understand how we can accidentally end up misunderstanding one another when we hear the sweet word “flexibility”.

For students, they may want flexibility for study. Parents may want the flexibility to pick up their kids each day, or to take care of them if they are sick. Others want to work from home once per week; simply because this helps to boost their productivity.

Australian’s have long been known for valuing their work-life balance. In fact, according to Business Insider “work/life balance is so important to Australians that they would willingly trade it over money, holidays and development opportunities offered by any prospective or current employer.”

To remain competitive as an employer, it is vital that you understand workplace flexibility, and how to successfully implement it. Not just to keep employees happy but also to boost productivity and overall employee satisfaction across the business.

Company-wide flexibility options

The benefits of a flexible work environment are many, including a significant boost in productivity and job satisfaction. If you’re a company new to flexibility in the workplace, here are a few examples of some flexible arrangement you could consider implementing (that are becoming widely expected):

Hot desking

This option is excellent for companies as it allows you to save on office space that is going unused. Hot desks around the office let staff come to work and choose which desk suits them; it also gives them the flexibility to move throughout the day as they may need a change of environment for different tasks. However, anecdotal reports from people working in companies that do offer hot desking, note that in practice people are creatures of habit and sit at the same desk every day and within their teams, so the benefits of hot desking are still being evaluated.

Remote work

Today it is extremely common for employers to offer one day per week where employees can work from home or remotely from wherever they like. This helps employees to break up their week and get away from inter-office distractions, which in turn boosts productivity. This escape from the office is also proven to significantly increase love for one’s job.

Individual flexibility options

Flexibility is a valuable perk to offer staff, and it is all the more appreciated when it is tailored specifically to an individual’s needs and a mutually beneficial arrangement is negotiated. Here are some ideas of what may be negotiated on an individual basis:

• Alternate working hours – Parents may wish to start earlier and finish earlier so that they can make school pick ups.
• Remote work commute – Some staff have a long commute to get to work. Thankfully those train journeys can now come with wifi, so some employers may be willing to allow staff to get to the office later, knowing they are working during their commute.
• Work from home perks – Whether it is for parents needing the flexibility to stay home with kids, or for staff who have proven they can work effectively from home (cafe, beach, whatever), giving this option to motivated employees increases loyalty and can allow you to retain staff who may otherwise have had to leave due to changes in their circumstances.

What are you doing in your business to promote flexibility?  We would love to learn what is working for you and what challenges you are facing. Get in touch with the team at Launch Recruitment today.

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Securing Loyal Candidates in IT Project Services

Recently I had an in-depth conversation with one of my clients about the challenges they faced when securing Project Managers. In the last 12 months, their churn rate had significantly increased and was impacting their delivery.

After our long discussion, here is how we agree the IT Project Services market looks at present:   

If you’re a Project Manager in Australia right now, you would have a general sense that things are going great. You’re in high demand, you’re earning a high contract rate, and you can take your pick at whatever exciting project comes along.

Conversely, if you’re an Aussie business in need of a good Project Manager, your perspective is likely to be entirely different. It’s hard to secure the best people, you’re paying high rates, and loyalty is harder and harder to come by as higher rates and more interesting projects pop up left right and centre to steal your star PM.

What not to do in a candidate market

What tends to happen in a candidate market (where the candidates have the power), is that companies rush the hiring process; afraid they will miss out if they don’t act fast. In doing so, they can often compromise on the thorough recruitment process that is necessary to ensure you’re getting the right fit. As a result, high demand candidates go wherever the money is best, and the project is most enticing. With such a flippant decision-making process on both parts, is it any wonder that they will just as quickly jump to the next high paying, interesting project as soon as it presents itself?

Batten down the hatches

While it may seem counterintuitive, tightening recruitment processes is essential when you’re in a candidates market. Of course, it’s important to respect that these candidates are in a position of power; review your rates and think of how your company will compete for the best people, but that doesn’t mean jumping the gun and accepting a revolving door of disloyal PM’s. Staying proactive and firm in these times is essential – no matter how much pressure you’re feeling.

The best method for securing the right people, who are not only technically great but will also be loyal and committed, is to qualify, qualify, qualify.

Qualify that they have the right skills for the task

Step one is the most obvious and usually as far as many companies get when looking for a PM. Skills are, of course, critical to the person being able to deliver but this is the first qualification, not the final. Consider if this PM works the way you require. There is a shift in the demands and pace now expected from PM’s; they’re expected to be able to make multiple iterations on projects, be agile, yet work within traditional Project methodologies such as waterfall and PMBOK. Assess if your candidates meet all of your requirements.

Qualify that their career ambitions match what your company can offer

Assessing how your project or company aligns to a candidates’ career ambitions is critical in discovering the likelihood of a candidate staying with you, even if someone else offers them more money. If their career ambitions don’t align and it is merely a project to them, then you can’t expect them to stay when something better comes along.

Qualify that they want to see the project through

As above, if the person is not bought into the project, they are likely to jump ship as soon as something higher paying or more interesting proceeds. Throughout the interview process, qualify how the candidate has conducted themselves in previous projects. Look for people who have pride when they speak about the projects they deliver, beware of those who have not stuck around to see how it ends.

The resounding message is that communication is essential. Don’t get caught up with the pressure to find someone without taking the time to get to know them and discover if they truly want to get to know you.

If you’re struggling to secure qualified and loyal PM’s, get in touch with the Launch Recruitment Project Services recruitment team today on 1300 452 986 or visit our contact page.

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