Employer Trends
Throughout the pandemic, certain industries enjoyed spectacular growth. Retail and eCommerce giants such as Amazon, defense stalwarts like General Dynamics, and healthcare companies like Humana all hired technology professionals in massive numbers. As we move into a new period, many of these industries and companies show no signs of slackening their tech hiring, despite some fears of a recession on the horizon.
For hiring managers and recruiters at the biggest companies in these industries, the resources are largely there to hire the talent you need (especially if you can justify it as a critical part of strategy). The key is to offer candidates the projects and benefits that will keep them happy and engaged, especially in mega-companies where employees can quickly become lost in an org chart.
Smaller companies in these ultra-popular industries may feel they’re at a disadvantage in hiring because they can’t afford to pay the same salary and benefits as their massive competitors. No matter what the industry, though, startups and small to midsize businesses (SMB) can offer ownership of exciting projects and non-monetary benefits such as training and education or flexible work schedules; those are often enough to draw candidates interested in making a difference.
In healthcare, the tech demands are vast. Whether it’s data scientists who can analyze massive amounts of patient data for insight (and cost-savings), programming experts who can build ultra-secure web portals, or dozens of other roles, big healthcare companies like Humana and UnitedHealth need technology professionals. Meanwhile, healthcare startups want specialists who can do everything from develop augmented-reality tools to build next-generation sensors.
Aerospace and defense remains an industry in perpetual need of the best tech talent, from cybersecurity experts and data science experts to hardware and software engineers. Companies such as General Dynamics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman all saw their hiring rise notably between 2021 and 2022.
It’s the best and worst of times in finance and banking. Although startups in more volatile subindustries such as cryptocurrency have endured enormous swings in fortune during 2022, larger institutions such as Wells Fargo and Capital One have plowed ahead with their digital transformation efforts, hiring thousands of tech professionals with cutting-edge skills in everything from web development to machine learning. While tech professionals looking for excitement might gravitate toward the startups, the larger finance and fintech companies offer stability and the chance to work on really large projects.
Across industries, consulting firms such as Accenture and KPMG have provided crucial technical knowledge and staffing to companies that don’t have the time or know-how to spin up complicated technology projects internally. Throughout 2022, companies everywhere rushed to bring cloud projects online and evolve their tech stacks, leading them to turn to consulting firms... which led to those consultants hiring more tech professionals to keep up.
