The demand for skilled talent remains high in 2024. To meet their hiring goals, companies must continue finding innovative ways to attract and retain both long-term and short-term talent.Approaches such as offering above-average compensation and engaging recruiters to help you tap into the pool of passive job seekers are more important than ever. In addition, attracting skilled talent is increasingly about how well a company can provide a healthy work/life balance.Another key to successfully building a team is to understand the current hiring environment and which roles are in highest demand, whether you’re actively recruiting for a role or simply want to keep hold of your current employees. Research from Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report highlights the latest data from surveys of hiring managers and our analysis of thousands of job postings to help you make informed hiring and management decisions.
According to analysis of a proprietary dataset of more than one million U.S. job postings, including 100,000 Robert Half placements, the tech job market for software engineers and developers remained resilient despite notable layoffs at major firms earlier in 2023. With over 400,000 new software engineering and development jobs posted throughout the year, competition for top talent in these roles was, as expected, fierce. The demand for executive leadership and operations roles also grew, with a 15% and 6% increase in job postings, respectively.A majority of the technology positions tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had unemployment rates well below the national average of 3.3% for the year. For instance, systems managers reported an annual unemployment rate of 1.7%, and help desk and desktop support professionals reported a rate of 1.9%. Notably, security analysts had a 0.5% unemployment rate, underscoring the demand for cybersecurity expertise.Nearly a quarter of new technology positions in 2023 offered hybrid work arrangements, and an additional 17% were fully remote. Given the interest in flexible work on the part of many candidates, the balance of firms may be missing an opportunity. As more employers require more in-person time, companies that can offer adaptable work schedules, including flexible scheduling or hybrid or fully remote options, are particularly poised to distinguish themselves in the talent market.
Looking forward, are companies hiring talent in the first half of 2024? Robert Half surveys of technology hiring managers reveal that yes, recruitment is top of mind for many leaders in the field. Sixty-nine percent are hiring for new permanent roles, while an additional 29% say they are hiring for vacated permanent positions.To help augment their permanent teams, 72% of technology managers plan to increase their use of contract professionals, especially within areas like AI and machine learning, software and applications development, and technology process automation.Hiring continues to be difficult for technology roles, but employers may be able to recruit from a larger talent pool in the first half of 2024. Many technology professionals (45%) plan to look for a new job, mainly for a higher salary and improved benefits and perks. While this is positive news for hiring managers, they’ll need to be prepared to offer competitive compensation, flexible work options and career development opportunities to recruit top candidates.Learn more hiring insights in the full Demand for Skilled Talent report.
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The Demand for Skilled Talent report by Robert Half is an authoritative source providing essential insights into employment trends. This report has offered a deep dive into the U.S. hiring landscape for over a decade, spotlighting challenges and strategies to attract and retain talent. It explores what employees seek in their careers, identifies common recruitment errors and suggests solutions. The report spans finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources, proving crucial for business leaders and managers.
