Seventy-five percent of technical companies are reporting talent gaps, a skills shortage worsened by poor staff retention rates. Research by The Linux Foundation concluded that almost a third of new hires depart within six months of being onboarded.
A Harvard Business Review survey of 230 organisations found that only 13% of employers can attract and retain the tech talent they need most. Read more here
If almost a third of new hires leave within six months of being onboarded, this is an incredibly costly and inefficient means of expanding or realigning a business to meet new technological demands. The time needed to source and onboard staff is just as draining on HR resources. When businesses were asked to quantify these numbers, the survey reported some sobering statistics:
Time needed to fill a technical position
- 8% Less than 1 month
- 40% 1-3 months
- 29% 4-6 months
- 19% 7-9 months
- 8% 10-12 months
Length of the onboarding process
- 26% up to 4 weeks
- 40% 1-3 months
- 24% 3-6 months
- 8% 6 months +
The harsh reality is that the total time needed to make debut workers productive is the cumulative time lag above. Almost two-thirds of new hires require a six-month or more investment before they are up to speed within an organisation and sufficiently skilled to be fully productive assets.
If these metrics don’t improve, or if they represent the new normal, businesses will see little benefit from in-house training if a high proportion of employees fly the nest and take their newly acquired skills elsewhere. Companies will look to either outsource training or search for freelancers and contractors who have already invested in themselves by independently upskilling.
More graduates are entering the workforce and Gen Zs are fans of hybrid working. It’s not difficult to imagine that they will embrace ‘hybrid training’ too. This may manifest itself as a schedule of corporate-driven training modules that are outsourced – enabling contractors to plug into them remotely – or workshops that may be scheduled in-house but using outsourced trainers and experts who design and present the modules on their behalf.
The ‘dawn and dusk’ scenarios for full-time employees and contractors is more likely to see a blended workforce where these definitions blur, rather than diametrically opposed cohorts. But the Firehead Training Academy, which makes courses available to both individuals and corporate clients, is already helping businesses adapt to this hybrid reality.
Connect with us here to discuss your company or individual training needs.
