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January 10, 2025
Key Takeaways
With the UK facing a severe IT skills shortage, refining recruitment strategies now can turn this challenge into a long-term advantage.
There’s no denying that a severe skills shortage is crippling the UK IT sector. Issues like Brexit have made the hiring pool more shallow, and a lack of investment into training means that essential skills are in short supply. The IT sector is also changing quickly, and skills aren’t keeping up with demand.
All of this uncertainty makes hiring IT talent a difficult task at the moment. Those tasked with filling vacancies have their work cut out for them, and many are being pushed to explore new avenues and novel approaches.
While skills shortages are no doubt a huge obstacle to overcome, it can also be seen as an opportunity. It’s a chance to review your current recruitment strategy and identify areas of improvement. These changes will benefit you in all conditions, not just when you’re facing a skills shortage.
Improving recruitment practices will also help to drive down the cost of acquiring a new hire while also increasing the quality of hires. This can help to contribute to improved staff retention, allowing you to find new talent that actively wants to grow and learn with your organisation. So if the skills aren’t readily available to you, you can always create them.
This guide will offer a deep dive into improving hiring practices during a skills shortage. With our practical advice, you’ll be able to turn threats into opportunities and ensure you always have the skills you need for growth.
When there is an obvious skills shortage, many employers will assume they have to dig deeper into their pockets to offer higher wages. While this might work in the short term, it isn’t a sustainable practice.
If you offer an above market starting salary, you set a precedent of always offering above market salaries. These members of staff will have expectations of a pay rise after getting comfortable with your company. If they have already reached the salary ceiling for their role, they will become demotivated and feel unvalued by their company – even if they are on an above market salary.
Instead of digging into your pockets, think about ways you can offer a better working experience. If your salaries are competitive, you can stand out from the competition by offering less tangible things, like a positive work environment, opportunities for growth, a voice in the way the organisation is run, and stability.
Many organisations lose good candidates because of outdated hiring processes. If the hiring process starts with a one-click application on LinkedIn, then candidates will expect the rest of the process to be just as smooth.
Above all else, candidates want to be informed. If they have been unsuccessful, it’s vital to follow up in good time and give feedback. You might think the unsuccessful candidates aren’t important, as you aren’t interested in hiring them. This is short-sighted thinking that will damage your image as an employer.
Candidates should feel respected throughout the process, regardless of the outcome. If word spreads that candidates are ghosted after an interview, this can damage your reputation and make top-tier talent reluctant to even apply.
Value of Experience vs Growth
Candidates value real opportunity to grow. Train junior staff while keeping senior roles competitive—to balance immediate needs with future strength.
Transparent Processes
Respectful, clear, and timely hiring experiences increase candidate trust—and even rejected candidates will speak well of your brand.
There are many things that contribute to a good working environment. It typically starts with trust and transparency. Employees want to feel empowered to do their role in the way that makes the most sense for them. This could mean working from home occasionally, or working variable hours.
Being open to feedback from employees will also help to ensure you’re offering the perks that people actually want. Cast away assumptions and listen to what employees want from their employer. Your staff might be more interested in a technology upgrade than free snacks in the break room.
A part of improving recruitment procedures that is often overlooked is the role of staff retention. Once you’ve found the staff you need, the next step is to figure out how to get them to stay with your company.
Offering ongoing training opportunities will deliver on multiple goals, allowing you to improve staff retention while also addressing the skills shortage head on. If you’ve hired talented and capable staff, why not train them in the skills that you are lacking?
There’s always the risk that you will invest in your staff and they will take this training and head off to new pastures, but this is far better for your organisation than refusing to train your staff and having unhappy workers stick around on your payroll. At least the happy employees who have benefitted from a positive work environment will have excellent things to say about you.
| Focus Area | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Competitive Perks Beyond Salary | Non-monetary factors like flexibility, growth, stability can attract candidates even when you can’t outbid rivals on pay. |
| Streamlined Hiring Processes | Lengthy or opaque hiring journeys lose candidates to better organised competitors. |
| Employee Retention Strategies | Retaining staff reduces need for constant hiring and builds internal capability. |
| Graduate & Junior Talent | Early-career hires help build skills pipelines that address future shortages. |
| Distinct Employer Brand | Strong values, transparency, and culture help you stand out when recruiting is harder. |
Hiring graduates straight from university might seem like a big challenge. They typically have no real world experience and need to be taught the basics before they can offer a meaningful contribution. But this could put you one step ahead of the competition as you won’t be waiting for them to look for the first stepping stone in their career.
Research shows that young people are increasingly choosing stability and security over the lure of “hustle culture”. They aren’t interested in multiple side jobs and job hopping their way to new opportunities. They simply want to feel safe and valued in a place where they can grow and develop.
Hiring during a skills shortage might require you to turn old ways of thinking on their head and approach the challenge in a whole new way. This can be a positive move and may set you up for improving your hiring practices and employee retention strategies.
The important thing to remember is that your competitors are in the same boat. They’re facing the same challenges, so it’s vital to carve your own path instead of following the trends. It might feel like there is safety in numbers, but this won’t allow you to take your place in the sector and truly stand out. Instead, forge your own path with confidence.
Facing a skills shortage? Let CMD Recruitment help you build hiring processes that work. Submit your vacancy or browse our candidate network today.
Highlights
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