Trouble Finding Qualified Techies? Retrain the Ones You've Got

IT hiring managers struggling to fill skill gaps may be overlooking a natural source of talent: their existing employees who can be strategically trained in hard-to-find skill sets.

As the complexity of in-demand technical skills increases, the size of the available applicant pool shrinks considerably. According to an exclusive survey on the IT workforce and hiring trends conducted by IDG and HPE in June, 28 percent of the 101 respondents have a harder time filling available positions now than they did three years ago. The reduced size of the IT applicant pool is especially problematic for larger enterprises (those with 10,000-plus employees), cited by 35 percent of the survey respondents. …

Tuition assistance, internal training, and focus on key growth initiatives are some of the more popular ways survey respondents empower existing IT employees. For one participant, reskilling employees does more than help address key skills gaps. It also goes a long way in attracting and retaining top talent. In the process, it differentiates the company’s IT workplace from those of its competitors. “We focus on internal mobility, mentorship programs, and reimbursement for certifications,” says the IT director who works at a Fortune 100 company.