Banking on Talent: Sourcing Hundreds of Tech Pros for Financial Services 

Banking on Talent: Sourcing Hundreds of Tech Pros for Financial Services

Tech & Digital Talent for Financial Services

Banking on Talent: Sourcing Hundreds of Tech Pros for Financial Services

This financial services firm engaged their RPO partner PeopleScout for this three-month recruitment project to source in-demand technology pros for a digital transformation initiative.

5 Days to Project RPO Launch
1.5: 1 Interview to Offer Ratio
46 Days from Application to Offer

Situation 

A leading financial services organization was undertaking a digital transformation project to adapt to how their customer wanted to bank—shifting from in-branch and to online and in-app. However, with demand for technology professionals in the UK increasing by more than 40%, the client needed support and asked PeopleScout to manage specialist hiring for five role profiles within their technology team, including customer journey managers, technical delivery managers and product owners.  

The client required us to launch the project RPO immediately to meet their recruitment goals.   

Solution 

We mobilized a dedicated specialist tech recruiting team in just five days. The team included experienced tech recruiters which expedited the screening process. In parallel, we devised a recruitment marketing strategy utilizing job boards and social media campaigns to attract applications from qualified talent.  

Our tech recruiters proactively sourced and headhunted candidates with in-demand technology profiles and in hard-to-fill locations. We supported the full candidate lifecycle including attraction, sourcing, sifting, screening, interview scheduling and offer management using the client’s ATS and other systems. Throughout the project we worked collaboratively with the client to respond to their changing requirements. 

Results 

During the three-month project, we conducted in depth, technical screening calls with over 430 candidates, and we were able to shortlist and present 297 qualified candidates for the roles—all while adhering to stringent financial services regulations. We achieved an interview to offer ratio of 1.5:1, and 94% of candidates who received offers accepted.  

The client was happy with the consistent support they received from PeopleScout. They commended our commitment to innovative approaches and were pleased that we kept the project on track despite obstacles, all whilst prioritizing candidate experience. 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Financial Services Organization
  • INDUSTRY
    Financial Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    This financial service company is a long-time PeopleScout client, receiving RPO services for high-volume customer service roles, specialist professional hires and annual early careers campaigns.

Securing Software Engineers for a Healthcare Tech Pioneer

Securing Software Engineers for a Healthcare Tech Pioneer

Tech Recruiting in Healthcare

Securing Software Engineers for a Healthcare Tech Pioneer

A global healthcare technology company turned to PeopleScout to find much-needed tech talent to grow their healthcare data and analytics services.

97 % Offer Acceptance Rate
Implemented SMS Text Screening
Implemented SMS Text Screening
20 % Exceeded Submittal-to-Interview Ratio Goal by 20%

Situation 

A healthcare technology company approached PeopleScout to help with their hard-to-fill software engineering and niche technology positions. With demand for tech and digital skills on the rise across all industries, the client was struggling to fuel their business growth.  

Solution 

PeopleScout implemented a partial-cycle recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) program for the client. Our dedicated delivery team consisted of tenured recruiters who had at least five years of software engineering recruitment experience. We established a multi-channel sourcing process, screening, scheduling interviews and completing the hiring process for the client.  

The PeopleScout RPO team partnered closely with hiring managers to brainstorm creative solutions to particularly hard-to-fill roles and to provide talent intelligence and detailed compensation information that they could take back to their leadership. 

We also implemented new technology that allowed us to screen candidates via two-way SMS texting to speed up screening time, improve candidate engagement and reduce fallout. Hiring manager surveys were also rolled out to gain more feedback, and reporting and analytics were set up to measure SLAs. 

Results 

PeopleScout effectively hired candidates for the organization’s niche technology roles, while exceeding time to fill expectations. Our recruiters thoroughly sourced against the role requirements, assuring candidates met the client’s standards. As a result, 77% of hires made were externally sourced candidates, and we increased the submittal to interview ratio to 54%, exceeding our target by over 20%. The offer-acceptance rate grew to 97%, well above the industry average of 70%.  

Following this success, the RPO program expanded from roles within the U.S. to also cover recruiting tech roles in the UK and Ireland. 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Healthcare technology company
  • INDUSTRY
    Technology
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    250
  • LOCATIONS
    U.S., expanding to UK and Ireland
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    This healthcare technology company provides data, analytics and software for healthcare and government social services. The organization works with healthcare providers, health plans, governments and life sciences companies to get more from their health data, using artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud computing and other advanced information technology.

Shifting Perceptions of Tech & Digital Talent for a Leading Retailer

Shifting Perceptions of Tech & Digital Talent for a Leading Retailer

Retail Employer Brand

Shifting Perceptions of Tech & Digital Talent for a Leading Retailer

A renowned grocery retailer turned to PeopleScout for a new employer brand and recruitment process to help them change perceptions and become an employer of choice for tech, digital and data analyst talent.

5,000 proactive searches per month on average related to software engineering on the client’s career site
13,000 views of digital, tech and data job postings per month on average
17,000 tech, digital and data pros have joined a new LinkedIn community led by the client
39% % increase in LinkedIn impressions

Situation 

With the rise of ecommerce and consumers seeking more digital experiences, this leading grocery retailer needed to shift their workforce to support web and mobile app development, data analytics, cloud computing and more. They anticipated that 50% of their new hires would go into digital, tech and data-focused roles, yet their legacy employer brand and recruitment journey was designed for volume in-store hiring. 

However, tech and digital talent couldn’t see past the shop floor. In a highly competitive and disruptive market, millennial and Gen Z digital natives simply didn’t think a retailer could match their needs or ambitions, despite the retailer’s vast capabilities and breadth of opportunities. 

The organization turned to PeopleScout to help them evolve their employer value proposition (EVP) and employer brand so that it would speak to candidates with tech and digital skills and experience. Because of the stiff competition, the new brand had to work hard. It needed to bring their culture to life, define what was unique about the retailer and do justice to their innovation and variety of roles.  

It also had to launch within 50 days to coincide with the conclusion of the launch of a new Digital, Tech and Data business unit. 

Solution 

In response, we created a dedicated brand platform for digital, tech and data roles. This brought all these roles under one umbrella, delivering integrated solutions across the company. With this bold new direction, the client could offer greater opportunities and take a new value proposition to market. 

Curate 

It was vital to understand the motivations of our audience. What was important to them, and what could the retailer offer that was a good fit? 

To make sure we really knew our target talent’s needs and wants, we had to gain key insights from tech-focused colleagues of all levels, plus external contacts who fit the “digital native” demographic. It was also crucial to ensure all our insight came from a truly diverse pool of respondents. 

We started by conducting interviews with leaders and visionaries to establish a clear view on the current situation and strategic direction for the future. We then held focus groups with team leads across data, tech and digital, as well as a series of workshops with their teams. This gave us a clear picture that helped us shape our prototype proposition. 

Our external research consisted of in-depth interviews with DevOps specialists, software engineers and data scientists working for competitors for talent in digital, tech and data. Additionally, we surveyed potential candidates on market perception of the retailer. Our proposition was tested on all external candidates before finalizing. 

Our key insights told us that external talent wanted: 

  • Challenging problems 
  • Collaborative cultures 
  • Freedom to experiment and learn 
  • A flexible work environment 
  • Training and development 
  • To see their work implemented 

We found that the client’s offering matched this head on. We needed to highlight these things in the new employer brand platform: 

  • Size, scale and complexity of challenge 
  • Values and culture 
  • Opportunities to develop 
  • Tangible impact 
  • Ability to work flexibly 

Create 

We combined our findings into employer value proposition (EVP) pillars that positioned the retailer as the perfect blend of nimble start-up with big business backing and future-facing retail giant. Using these pillars, we devised bold, exciting creative that brought our proposition to life. Steeped in the organization’s longevity and far-reaching impact from serving 71% of the public, the EVP focused on the journey to become a nimble tech-forward organization that creates incredible digital experiences. 

The new platform also included a fresh color palette, a new tone of voice and a suite of edgy, tech-inspired characters with a sense of fun to be used across all tech, digital and data branding. Derived from tech and data symbols, they served to disrupt notions of the client as a purely retail organization. 

These creative elements were then rolled out across a huge range of recruitment tools, including a brand book, presentation roadshow, social media video content, event materials, careers pages, lanyards, PowerPoint slides, a LinkedIn channel and external media. The tech teams are even dressing their offices using the new creative, applying images of the brand characters to walls and lockers and producing large 3D brand symbols situated across various spaces.  

Community 

The brand was well received internally and externally, driving engagement and inspiring teams. In order to build buzz, we built a communications and engagement strategy to drive awareness, which also resulted in existing employees becoming brand ambassadors. 

With the brand in place, we developed a more intuitive candidate experience with a simplified application process. We also designed an email nurture program to convert interest into applications. These communications harnessed the power of our new brand ambassadors and immersed candidates in personalized content. 

The new employer brand messaging now permeates all communications coming from the division, including the specially built LinkedIn community which acts as a digital talent pool for the retailer. 

As part of the new brand launch, we ran interactive workshops and sessions to generate brand awareness at the annual Women in Data conference. This gave the client an opportunity to build relationships with women in the tech space and speak about their available opportunities to prospective candidates. 

Results 

Across LinkedIn, strong results from the launch of the brand show we’ve cut through to successfully appeal to our audience. 

In the month after the launch, the LinkedIn content garnered: 

  • 216K impressions 
  • 4,100 engagements (a 39% increase from prior to the new brand launch) 

The LinkedIn community has grown to over 17,000 followers in the three years since the launch.  

On the client’s career site, there are an average of 5,000 proactive searches per month related to software engineering, showing that the brand has been successful in positioning the retailer as an employer of choice for software development professionals. The client experiences a monthly average of 13,000 views of digital, tech and data job postings.  

In addition, over the last three years, there’s been a 66% increase in visits to the company’s digital, tech and data careers landing page.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Leading grocery retailer
  • INDUSTRY
    Retail
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Talent Advisory
  • LOCATIONS
    600 supermarkets, 800 convenience stores and ecommerce platforms

The Tech and Digital Workforce: Decoding the Demand for Skills of the Future [Infographic]

The tech and digital workforce is dynamic and continues to evolve at an astonishing rate. Recent advancements in AI and automation as well as the evolution of the metaverse are birthing the need for new skills. These advancements aren’t just affecting job roles; they’re reshaping entire industries and economies, propelling us into a future that many organizations aren’t prepared for.  

Talent acquisition leaders across sectors are at the forefront of this revolution, facing the challenges and seizing the opportunities that come with it. Whether grappling with the rise of remote work, the ethical considerations of AI or how to develop the skills needed to thrive in the digital economy of tomorrow, organizations must keep their finger on the pulse of tech and digital skills to stay competitive.

CHECK OUT THIS INFOGRAPHIC FOR INSIGHT TO HELP YOU NAVIGATE THE EVER-CHANGING TECH & DIGITAL TALENT MARKET.

For more tech and digital talent insights, download our Recruitment Handbook for Tech & Digital Talent

Digital Talent Demands: A Guide for Talent Leaders

The demand for skilled tech and digital talent is growing at an unprecedented rate in response to the emergence of new technologies, making the competition for talent as tight as ever, with both tech and non-tech companies vying for the same qualified candidates. For the tech sector, it’s a time of transformation. For non-tech organizations, it’s a golden opportunity to fill their technical skills gaps. But for any employer looking to attract top digital talent, it is essential to first understand what candidates are looking for in a new employer.  

In this article, we explore the opportunity for non-tech organizations and offer insights into what tech and digital professionals are looking for in a new employer.  

Plenty of Demand Despite Tech Sector Shifts 

The tumultuous labor market and recent economic landscape have been a rollercoaster for all HR leaders, but those in the tech sector have experienced particularly high highs and low lows. Recent layoffs at tech companies are being categorized as a “course correction” by many publications, and it seems the “growth-at-all-costs” attitude has finally caught up with tech organizations. Over 160,000 professionals were laid off in 2022 according to Layoffs.fyi, with additional cuts taking place in 2023.  

Yet, despite this, demand for tech talent remains high. Over 375,000 tech jobs remain unfilled in the U.S. according to the Dice Tech Job Report. In Australia, tech jobs grew more than twice as fast as the average employment rate in the last decade. In the UK, 41% of companies expect to hire for technical skills in 2023. 

The Tech & Digital Talent Diaspora 

This demand is being primarily driven by traditional companies, rather than software companies or other tech organizations. In fact, the majority of people in tech occupations (59%) don’t work in the tech sector

In our digital-first world, every company—from apparel brands to car insurance companies—has tech at the heart of their business as they develop mobile apps and ecommerce consumer experiences. In fact, the biggest and fastest-growing industries for tech professionals are finance, manufacturing and healthcare as these sectors increasingly digitize their operations. 

The ratio of tech and digital workers employed outside of the tech industry will continue to grow. Many workers recently laid off from Big Tech firms have highly sought-after skills, creating an opportunity for more traditional organizations to land tech and digital talent

Graph showing which industries tech and digital talent are moving into.

Will Former Tech Workers Re-Evaluate Their Options? 

Given the extent of the downsizing in the tech sector, many workers will think twice about going back to a tech company in the future. Traditional employers, that previously couldn’t compete against the high salaries and quirky perks that Big Tech could provide, now have more to offer tech workers—including stability. 

Tech workers are trading the excitement of startups for the steadiness of more traditional employers. The unpredictable nature and funding rollercoasters of tech firms have left many tech professionals seeking a saner pace. As traditional companies embrace AI, blockchain and cybersecurity, workers who have left the tech sector can still leverage their tech and digital skill sets, but with a greater sense of security.  

What Do Tech and Digital Talent Want? 

When they’re ready for growth again, Big Tech will have to rethink their approach to engaging tech talent and attracting them back to the industry. So, what do tech and digital workers want from their employer and their job? Here are three top considerations that organizations across sectors should focus on to attract and retain tech and digital talent.  

Flexibility & Work/Life Balance 

Many tech workers who experienced the fast pace and intense work culture of startups now find themselves burnt out and are prioritizing more work/life balance. Flexible contracts and remote working are important to tech workers, with 29% citing flexibility as a top priority when looking for a job. Yet, 48% of tech sector employees said that they were feeling pressure from their employer to come into the office more often. 

Recent Gallup analysis shows that employee engagement is lowest among on-site employees, with the biggest dip seen among employees who are capable of working remotely but are required to be on site. Flexibility is not just a perk to offer employees; it should be viewed as a critical way to increase productivity. Organizations can reap the benefits of flexibility in the workplace by continuously monitoring their flexible work program and addressing any challenges experienced by employees or hiring managers.  

What tech and digital talent want

Digital Skills Development  

No one is more aware of the speed of technological advancement than tech and digital workers. And this can lead to anxiety. In fact, 29% of digital employees globally believe their skill set is redundant now or will be in the next one to two years, and 38% believe their skills will be obsolete in the next four to five years. 

In terms of retaining digital talent, investing in training and upskilling programs is crucial for all organizations. Over half of digital talent (55%) say they’re willing to change employers if they feel their skills are stagnating in their current role. Plus, 58% say they would gravitate to organizations that offer better tech and digital skills development. 

With an abundance of job opportunities available, these employees won’t hesitate to find an employer that will invest in their career development. So it’s concerning that only 27% of employees said their organization had plenty of opportunities in place to help them to learn new skills. Learning and development programs are not only an important part of retaining talent with tech and digital skill sets but can also be an effective way to attract talent.  

Start with a skills audit and compare the findings to your business roadmap. By uncovering the areas where your workforce needs the most training, you can then take steps to develop an upskilling program. For example, PeopleScout worked with a longstanding UK financial services RPO client to lead a reskilling program to help the client evaluate their customer service staff in bank branches and call centers to find candidates for their tech skilling program. We were able to identify over 1,000 employees who are now participating in a 12-month “bootcamp” to build digital and tech skills and move into new careers within the organization. 

Meaningful Work  

Organizations must find out how to communicate their employer value proposition (EVP) in a way that resonates with digital talent. Make sure your attraction content emphasizes the give and get for people in tech roles at your organization including learning and growth opportunities, your tech innovations and projects, well-being initiatives and more. Plus, more and more candidates are paying attention to organizational values and mission. If they can’t determine if their personal values are aligned with the company’s mission, they won’t apply.  

EVP is not all about attraction, but also about employee retention. From a retention perspective, it’s crucial that employers continue to showcase how you’re investing in your employees beyond compensation and benefits. This helps to boost feelings of engagement and to build loyalty. 

As the pace of digital transformation accelerates, it is difficult to envisage a company attaining its full potential without a strong foundation of tech and digital talent. Demand for this crucial part of the workforce won’t let up soon. It’s mission critical for organizations to understand what makes this group tick in order to attract, hire and retain tech talent. To get more strategies for attracting and hiring tech and digital professionals, download our Recruitment Handbook for Tech & Digital Talent.

Recruitment Handbook for Tech & Digital Talent

Tech & Digital Skills: 5 Recruitment Strategies for Closing the Skills Gap

There are a host of new and emerging tech disciplines—the metaverse, blockchain, generative AI, cybersecurity and more—that are changing the way we work and the kind of work we do. Many jobs that were previously done by humans are now done by machines. Many new jobs are emerging that require new and changing skill sets and organizations are struggling to find the talent they need to keep up as tech and digital skills gap grows.  

According to World Economic Forum, it is estimated that by 2030, “approximately 85 million jobs could go unfilled globally because of a lack of applicants with the skills to take them, which could result in $8.5 trillion (USD) in unrealized annual revenues.” 

Skills Shortage: Digital Age or Digital Deficiency? 

Salesforce’s 2022 Global Digital Skills Index surveyed 23,000+ workers across 19 countries and found the global digital skills readiness score is just 33 out of 100. No wonder that 64% of managers don’t think their employees are able to keep pace with future skill needs. Furthermore, 70% of employees say they haven’t even mastered the skills they need for their jobs today. Plus, a third (36%) of HR leaders say their sourcing strategies are insufficient for finding the skills they need. 

As organizations try to reinvent their business models to keep up with change, employers of all stripes—regardless of sector—must prepare their workforce for digital-first employment. By taking a skills-based approach to your talent acquisition strategy, you can move beyond your tired methods to find people with the right skills and competencies regardless of their degree or job history.  

Recruitment Handbook for Hiring Tech & Digital Talent

Measuring the Technology Skills Gap 

As an HR or TA leader, you’re probably asking, “Which digital and tech skills should I prioritize?” 

Well, it depends. 

To plan for the skills of the future, you must know where you are today. Conduct a skills inventory of current employees, regardless of department. Then, run a technology skills gap analysis, looking at what’s available now and what you’ll need in the future based on your organizational strategy.  

This, combined with external labor market data on the availability of tech and digital skills, you’ll be able to understand which critical skills gaps are in place today, what skills are available in the market and what skills you’ll have to develop internally. 

5 Skills-Based Talent Acquisition Strategies for Tech and Digital Talent 

Here are five strategies for closing the skills gap for your tech and digital roles. 

1. Assess for Adjacent Skills 

A crucial part of your skill inventory must be identifying skills adjacent to your critical skills which can be developed to bridge the gap. With the right capability and skills taxonomy in place—both for internal mobility and external hiring—you can tap talent with related skills to fill talent gaps through recruitment and upskilling.  

PeopleScout recently facilitated a reskilling project for a leading bank in the UK. We supported an evaluation of their customer service employees in call centers and bank branches to identify hidden skills. We evaluated hundreds of employees, surfacing many with complementary skills who are now involved in a development program to supply software engineering talent in the future.  

2. Don’t Overlook Candidates with Non-Traditional Backgrounds 

Identifying these complementary skill sets has the additional benefit of helping you surface non-traditional internal and external talent pools. These are candidates who possess the skills necessary to perform a role’s duties but may never have held a position with a tech or digital specific title. By taking a skill-based approach to tech and digital talent acquisition, you don’t limit yourself to a small talent pool with hard-to-find experience. This could also mean relaxing requirements around university degrees. Plus, it’s a great way to achieve diversity and social-mobility goals. 

technology skills gap

3. Develop Upskilling Opportunities 

Once you’ve found talent with adjacent skills, you’ll need an upskilling program to get them up-to-speed on their target role and for ongoing development of skills as new technology emerges. Learning and development programs are a great way to support cross-functional talent mobility. Plus, it can act as a big draw for recruitment, as more and more candidates say they value growth opportunities when considering a new job. According to the LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting report, Advancement and Skills Development are in the top five most important priorities for candidates.  

4. Embrace Global Expansion  

With the explosion of remote work, organizations can widen their talent search beyond their office locations. By shifting your focus to talent location and skill set, rather than your business footprint, you benefit from a more diverse talent pool. Leverage labor market data to find emerging tech hubs where demand is still low. For example, several cities in Latin America have a growing supply of digital skills with moderate salary expectations. 

5. Look Outside the IT Department for Tech & Digital Skills

Technology advancement means departments across the organization—and across sectors—have become breeding grounds for addressing the IT skills shortage. In fact, according to Gartner, almost 40% of job postings for talent with digital skills come from outside of IT departments. The explosion of FinTech, MarTech and even HRIS means that there’s a plethora of digital talent in finance teams, marketing teams and HR teams. So, instead of looking for a data scientist, why not try tapping a financial analyst to get those much-needed analytical skills? 

How an RPO Partner Can Help You Secure Tech and Digital Skills 

Employers looking to grow their tech and digital workforce can benefit from the services of a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider. Your RPO partner can help you adapt your attraction strategy to resonate with candidates with tech and digital skills, ensuring that you are sourcing talent with the required skills and identifying new ways to target candidates who fit these personas. Plus, an experienced RPO provider can assist you in building your talent pool from within your own organization, by consulting to develop an internal reskilling program. 

Get five proven strategies to attract, engage and hire the best tech professionals. Download our Recruitment Handbook for Hiring Tech & Digital Talent. 

The Recruitment Handbook for Hiring Tech & Digital Talent

The Recruitment Handbook for Hiring Tech & Digital Talent

5 Strategies for Recruiting the Best Tech Talent Now and into the Future 

Today, every company is a tech company as organizations across sectors create digital customer experiences, embrace automation and AI, and analyze the data created through these platforms. In fact, 6 out of 10 of the most indemand skills are tech-related.

However, according to Gartner, a third (36%) of HR leaders say their sourcing strategies are insufficient for finding the skills they need. So, how can talent acquisition leaders keep up with the demand for tech and digital talent?

In this handbook, you’ll learn:

  • Global trends driving the need for tech talent
  • Strategies for overcoming challenges in your tech hiring programs
  • How partnering with an RPO provider can help