RETENTION
IT and internet sector rethinking retention polices
Finding and retaining experienced IT and internet staff is no easy matter. The latest edition of the recently launched e-commerce magazine Business 2.0 provides some useful insights into how Europe's technology companies are looking at more imaginative ways to recruit and retain that scarce internet talent.
According to one study quoted by Business 2.0, there are more than 1.2 million unfilled IT jobs in Western Europe. What's more, a separate study suggests that this talent shortage could cause Western Europe to lose £ 380 billion between now and 2003 in lost productivity and tax revenues.
Radical rethinking
Faced with these difficulties, how then are the technology companies responding to the skill shortages? Lisa Khoo, author of the Business 2.0 article, reckons that they are considering a variety of innovative measures to address the issue.
Khoo based her five-page report on discussions with senior managers in the sector. Here is a selection of initiatives she discovered:
Most obviously, employers are starting to offer enticing pay packages to attract the qualified personnel they need — a costly and short-term solution. As share options lose some of their shine, some companies are focussing more on basic cash salaries.
More imaginatively, standard perks such as company cars and health club membership have been replaced in certain instances with scholarships and personal growth funds — often as part of an atmosphere aimed at making workers feel that the company cares and is committed to helping them reach their career goals, says Khoo.
Increasingly, training is being viewed as a cornerstone of an effective recruitment and retention policy.
Want to know more?
Title: Where has all the talent gone? , by Lisa Khoo, Business 2.0, July 2000.
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