IT Staffing Services And Attrition: Defining and Addressing the Problem

It’s difficult enough to attract great IT talent, and then comes the hard work of retaining them. It’s a never-ending quest that is all the more challenging in the realm of IT staffing, where attrition rates are particularly high. Call it attrition, churn or turnover, IT talent are constantly courted by competitors, looking to advance their careers, or up and leaving for unknown personal reasons. If you feel overwhelmed by the rate of attrition your firm has to deal with, a qualified IT staffing service may be the solution you need.

What Drives Tech Attrition

The ability for IT organizations to find and retain skilled workers is especially tough. As the economy continues to improve, many companies are rightly worried about their current employees looking elsewhere for more meaningful and profitable work. PayScale’s latest report shows that among Fortune 500 companies, the IT industry suffers the highest attrition rate. What is the top reason for so much turmoil and turnover? As the IT job outlook picks up, smart, talented, and in-demand IT pros are finding they have their pick of well-compensated jobs. They possess highly marketable skills and see no reason to not take advantage of opportunities to advance their careers and improve their quality of life.

Attrition as a Positive Force

Firms will never be able to completely eliminate attrition and, in fact, there are times when attrition can actually be a good thing:

• It allows your firm to explore new ways of thinking by bringing in fresh perspectives;
• It keeps IT staffing levels balanced;
• Attrition offers the opportunity to hire people with the skillsets that better match where your firm is headed; and
• Losing a certain acceptable amount of employees ensures that your firm does not become complacent or static.

How to Cope with IT Attrition

Some IT firms are dealing with the threat of high attrition by offering their prized IT team members higher salaries, better benefits, promotions, and inspiring new projects to work on. All businesses know it’s more cost-effective to retain talented employees than to see them go, and IT firms are no exception. Another way firms can fight back is by working with a staffing service to help them find extremely qualified employees on short notice to fill critical roles and complete vital jobs and projects on time and on budget. Like a lot of other things in life we don’t particularly like dealing with, attrition is a factor of staffing. Not all your IT staffing hires will stick. A solid relationship with an IT staffing service will help you use attrition to your firm’s benefit. They know and understand your firm’s background and needs, and are best equipped to help you with temporary, permanent or temp-to-permanent IT staffing solutions. Don’t let attrition wreak havoc on your firm’s productivity and growth. Instead, find an IT staffing service that helps you keep pace by sourcing and placing the industry’s best candidates right where and when you need them.