Post-pandemic, tech positions account for a greater share of all vacancies in the UK, at 13% in H1 2021, compared to 12.3 per cent in the same time in 2020.
Source: Tech Nation 2021
In recent years, the proportion of all vacancies that are filled by technology has risen gradually, mirroring changes in the number of unfilled jobs in the labour market. The velocity at which the tech industry has recovered from the pandemic compared to other businesses is perhaps one factor for a recent increase in the number of tech jobs offered. The graphic below, which shows the resiliency of tech job openings over the previous 18 months, emphasises the relevance of technology to the UK economy's vibrancy.
The issue faced by companies advertising for tech-related jobs in 2021, however, is the lack of developers/designers that are available. Skyrocketing salaries for startups, as well as a skills shortage in the area, are negatively compounding many businesses ability to secure well rounded, experienced staff.
Where other industries such as hospitality and customer service have seen a drop off in job retention and security since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, offers for developers and technically skilled job seekers have been coming in heavy to the tune of a 42% increase. As consumers move ever increasingly towards prioritising the use of digital services over those provided by physical premises, companies that were traditionally fuelled by brick and mortar premises are rushing to fill the needs of their newly digitised customers.
It is by the nature of this problem that many digital agencies, including Arch have seen a direct increase in the number of businesses looking to engage with us on an integrated basis, to work directly with their teams to help progress projects at the rate required to keep their consumers attention.
Agencies like ours make excellent development partners in this respect, owing to our agile nature that is finely tuned to provide uncompromised expertise and flexibility. Because our developers are more mobile than contractors, they can become an extension of your in-house team working on long-term, large-scale projects or acting as cover for resource shortages to clear a backlog.
Experience
We’ve worked in a similar capacity with many partners and clients including Dreamworks and Nestle. For one of our most longstanding clients, The DMA and IDM, our developers have been a respected part of their team for the last 10 years, integrating themselves wholeheartedly into the goals and objectives of the DMA’s in-house team.
Over the lifetime of the project, we’ve helped them deliver new integrated digital platforms to increase productivity and ease the administrative workload of their team. The success of this partnership has seen us deliver 3 key projects on 2 of the DMA’s key brands across new websites, a new, full customised CRM solution and an app. We were also heavily involved in migrating the IDM into a combined digital environment following their merger.
How we can help
There isn’t a standard or prescribed way for us to work alongside in house teams, owing to the agile nature of our teams, there are a variety of ways in which we can work together. Our teams can work across the end-to-end delivery of an entire project, or work in a more integrated way alongside your developers to assist in the shipment of a portion of code to help ease your backlog. The benefits of working with a team such as ours lie in their experience and flexibility, making partnerships with Arch a great option for both large and small scale projects.
If you’d like to know more about how we can support you and your team, please give us a call or email us.