High Attrition In Tech and How Startups And Enterprises Can Counteract it

As the tech industry continues to see a boom, there is one hardship that is being experienced by all — startups and conglomerates alike. It is high attrition rates.

With startups and enterprises vying to bring on board the best of talent, the employees in the tech sector are in a tizzy as they weigh in on whether they should leave their current job for the more delectable job offer next door.

This has resulted in higher employee turnover and attrition rates hence leaving startup founders and CEOs in a pickle.

What is attrition?

The gradual reduction in the number of employees in a company is coined attrition. It is calculated by dividing the number of full-time employees who have left per month by the average number of employees, multiplied by 100.

Why is the attrition rate in the tech sector sky-rocketing?

Over the past few years as more and more companies have turned to hybrid and remote work models, there has been a spike in the demand for major tech roles such as software developers, data scientists, cyber security professionals, and cloud engineers. Sadly, this demand isn’t being met with a supply of trained employees and professionals. It has led to startups and enterprises offering current developers in the market salaries 100 to 150% higher than their base salary to acquire the talent and expertise they bring to the table.

And this is just one of the reasons. Many times, employees don’t find the company they are working in to be beneficial for their long-term growth and progress as they don’t see much scope for work and creativity is welcomed.

Tech professionals also fear career stagnation which comes from working in one place for prolonged periods of time.

All in all, there is a myriad of factors that lead to high attrition rates that can’t be solely blamed on the employer but has a lot to do with the current employee attitudes and viewpoints in the market.

Now having said this, there’s still a lot that can be done. High attrition rates in the tech sector can be a bane if not nipped in the bud and there are solutions to achieve just that.

Here are a few considerations that startups and enterprises can make use of:

1) In-stack Coding Tests: A lot of times, employees tend to quit because they think they are overqualified for the role they’ve been hired for. This contributes to attrition which isn’t a pretty sight for any startup. By conducting in-stack coding tests before even calling an applicant for in-person interviews, recruiters and employers can save a lot of time and assess if the candidate is apt for the role or not.

2) Personality Tests & Culture-fit Check: Employees don’t want to work at companies whose organizational culture doesn’t mold in with their ethos, morals, and values. So it is better before hiring that recruiters make the right choice by assessing the candidate’s personality and whether they are a culture fit. This can be done by a few fun and quirky personality tests packed with an array of questions that quiz the candidate about your company culture.

3) Convening Technical Interviews: Once you’ve found a suitable candidate, convene technical interviews with them, letting them know their scope of work and what their day would look like. This will aid the candidate to gauge their level of engagement in the company operations and help them fit in more easily after hiring.

4) Staff Augmentation & Hiring Dedicated Teams: A lot of times, your in-house team can’t execute a certain software project the way you’d like them to and there could be a myriad of reasons for it. Now asking them to do the same job all over again with limited skill-sets will diminish their morale and will to work. This is when hiring dedicated teams and staff augmentation comes into play. By outsourcing your tech talent for certain software development projects, you not only save up on time and money but also keep your current employees motivated and less burned-out.

Conclusion:

All in all, these attrition notions are just a few aspects of the attrition troubles faced by software organizations. There’s a lot that can be done to tackle attrition but the case’s success only rests on how quickly and efficiently it is done.

Also Read: High Attrition Rate for Startups: The Causes & How to Fix It