Aggressive onboarding is fast being integrated into the business models of Australian technology companies, as the industry prepares for sustained growth.
But in an increasingly competitive job market, the challenge is now on companies to hold on to their best workers.
Radford, a division within professional services firm Aon, this week released its Global Technology Survey detailing the way in which projected growth in the technology sector is impacting operations.
Detailed in the report are the average voluntary turnover rates for technology companies in the Asia-Pacific region – an indicator of worker confidence in the job market.
Voluntary turnover at Australian technology companies went from 12.7% in Q1 to 12.8% in Q2.
Japan had the greatest growth in the region, increasing from 9.7% to 10.1%.
Radford states in the report it views voluntary turnover rates of 10% and over to be “a concern that warrants further examination from companies.”
Partner at Aon, Jairus Ashworth, implored companies to focus on retention of staff to mitigate the slowly rising voluntary turnover rates.
“Technology companies need to work especially hard to retain their top talent to fuel anticipated growth,” he said.
“Companies must first think about the types of rewards that are most important to their employees, particularly those that are seen as differentiating and reinforcing company culture. Then, companies should target those rewards at a competitive market point.
“This is especially important for certain in-demand job functions in the technology sector. These are often jobs that involve the most cutting-edge technology, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
The report also found that Australia ranks the third highest for aggressive hiring plans in the Asia-Pacific region, with the percentage of technology companies that plan to hire aggressively up 25% from 5.5% in the previous quarter to 6.9%.
Only Hong Kong (38.5%) and India (30.2%) had greater growth than Australia in this area.
The report defines ‘aggressive’ hiring plans as a recruitment strategy that is “actively planning and recruiting for organisational growth.”
Six of the eight Asia-Pacific markets surveyed showed an increase in this measure.
Partner and Radford Leader for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Alexander Krasavin, said companies must incentivise workers to ensure they are attracting the top talent.
“The technology market across Asia-Pacific is strong as we head into the second half of the year. To support rapid hiring plans, companies must leverage both pay and non-monetary rewards. These can include perks that promote greater work/life balance, peer-to-peer recognition awards and internal mobility programs.”
