The tech industry is booming, but so are the wages. Small companies face a double dilemma: a talent shortage and skyrocketing salaries. How can they compete with big tech companies offering six-figure salaries and luxurious perks?

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, compensation for critical tech roles has increased by an astonishing 20% in the last two years. In intensely competitive areas, this figure might soar to 30% more than the average tech pay by 2020.

As wages in the tech industry rise, the race to attract top-tier talent becomes more important. Whether you’re a technology buyer, a BPO, a CCaaS provider, or an enterprise company, strategic workforce solutions are now the need of the hour.

Strategies Small Companies Can Adopt To Stay Competitive

But there is good news, too. According to recent McKinsey research, salary and financial factors rank fourth behind career growth, flexibility, and meaningful relationships. Work-life balance and culture are now critical considerations in why people choose a company to join and why they choose to stay.

In the wake of the pandemic, tech workers now expect remote or at least hybrid work options and expect this current level of flexibility to continue.

To level the playing field, smaller companies can highlight non-monetary incentives to appeal to the intrinsic motivation of tech talent. These include career growth opportunities such as seminars and lectures, recognizing the shifting priorities of the modern workforce.

Increased Visibility and Recognition

Smaller businesses can provide greater exposure, faster career advancement, and a more significant role than giant corporations. Career advancement and companywide visibility are typically bureaucratic and delayed in larger firms, making smaller companies an appealing option.

The Chance to Gain Cross-Functional Knowledge and Leadership Experience

Smaller businesses may differentiate themselves by allowing employees to progress in their careers and carve out a niche. This involves gaining cross-functional experience and shadowing senior executives, which will help the organization during its growth phase.

A Healthy and Flexible Working Environment

Salary is only one factor in attracting great personnel. Companies that fit with employee beliefs include eco-friendly practices, provide remote work possibilities, participate in community activities, and display social responsibility, all creating an environment millennials resonate with and seek out.

The Ability To Make An Immediate Difference

Small businesses have a particular advantage in attracting top people since they can immediately and substantially impact new business models and work with cutting-edge technologies. The ability to define technological directions and acquire firm ownership can attract excellent individuals without having to compete on wages.

Outsourcing Talent

Outsourcing companies are really good at finding and hiring talented people, even when there’s a lot of competition. Many of these companies are voted as the “best place to work” because they offer their employees great non-financial benefits and services.

Outsourcing provides a cost-effective solution for smaller companies looking for excellent talent but not having the budget to meet growing expectations. The global in-house and outsourced facilities management market is estimated to reach $1.9 trillion by 2024.

Outsourcing allows small companies to tap into a global talent pool, attracting individuals with specialized skills or experience that might not readily be available locally. For example, a small e-commerce company experiencing rapid growth may outsource its customer service operations to a company specializing in handling high-volume questions and ensuring seamless and efficient client interactions even during busy seasons.

Businesses can get several vital benefits by outsourcing their business processes to experts:

Access to High-Quality Services

Outsourcing partners provide high-quality customer service solutions, ensuring that your clients are efficiently dealt with and get the correct assistance to solve their problems. This, in turn, leads to higher customer happiness and loyalty, which leads to a better brand perception and increased revenue.

Quicker Results

Companies can outsource particular projects and tasks, which helps them swiftly scale up their customer support operations without needing long recruitment and onboarding processes. Because they are not bogged down with other minor tasks or routine engagements, these outsourced resources can improve reaction times and response accuracy to client inquiries, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.

Cost Reduction

Outsourcing has long been acknowledged as a primary driver of operational cost reduction. According to Strategy and business research, 70% of companies attribute outsourcing as a primary source of cost reductions.

Agility in Workforce Planning

In today’s dynamic and ever-changing tech landscape, staying agile in workforce planning is no longer an option for small businesses; it’s necessary for survival. Rigid workforce structures simply can’t keep pace with the industry’s rapid advancements and evolving demands. Small companies must embrace flexibility and adaptability in their workforce planning strategies to thrive.

An intelligent way to manage your workforce effectively is by incorporating BPO. By doing this, you spread out your workforce, tapping into different groups of skilled people from various locations. This makes your team more resilient and enhances scalability, allowing your business to adapt easily to changes. Additionally, it introduces healthy competition among your team, inspiring better performance overall.

Remote Work

Small businesses can tap into a global talent pool by offering remote work options, no longer limited by geographical constraints. This opens doors to attracting top-tier tech talent regardless of location, fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Gig Economy

Introducing gig workers into specific projects provides more flexibility and scalability, allowing companies to adapt to shifting workloads without needing permanent hiring. This low-cost strategy is especially useful for managing seasonal surges or specialized duties.

Flexible Schedules

Small companies can implement flexible schedules like compressed workweeks or part-time options, allowing employees to achieve a better work-life balance, boosting morale, engagement, and productivity while keeping salaries manageable.

Investing in Upskilling and Reskilling Initiatives

In today’s rapidly evolving tech industry, relying only on external hires or outsourced employees can have some drawbacks. Building a future-proof workforce requires a proactive approach to upskilling and reskilling existing talent.

Training Programs

Investing in training programs that provide employees with the most up-to-date technical skills and industry knowledge allows them to adapt to changing technologies and compete in the job market. This also promotes professional development and progress inside the organization, lowering staff turnover and increasing loyalty.

Mentorship Programs

Mentorship programs allow senior executives to share their expertise and knowledge with junior colleagues, promoting a culture of ongoing learning and development. This speeds up skill development and improves team collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Conclusion

The technology industry is thriving, but that doesn’t mean small businesses can’t compete. Even the most minor organizations can recruit and retain top personnel by focusing on non-monetary incentives such as career progression, strong company culture, flexible work arrangements, and strategic workforce planning methods such as upskilling and outsourcing. Technology buyers, BPOs, and CCaaS providers may flourish in the competitive digital market by focusing on establishing a meaningful and rewarding work environment.