IT-Personalberatung: Wide Awake through the Crisis

The question we are most frequently asked these days: Has your business been completely put on hold? Most definitely not! A status report by Manfred Wenzel, managing director of the IT-Personalberatung Dr. Dienst & Wenzel GmbH & Co. KG.

The 16 consultants of the IT-Personalberatung are used to working together digitally from various locations, and videoconferencing has proven to be a valuable tool for our business. We are there for our clients and candidates full-time and are capable of accompanying the application processes between our clients and candidates with positive energy even in these challenging times.

But what is the current situation of our clients and the candidate market in the IT sector? On both sides, you can find eagles and ostriches. How ostriches react is a well-known tale. The eagles among the companies, however, are wide awake and are using the unexpected calm to come up with ideas to enable them to hit the ground running after the crisis. They develop concepts and strategies and investigate how they can benefit from this surge in digitization in their future business. They want to emerge from this crisis as winners! The 'five wise men' of the German economy, who currently expect a V-shaped recovery from the crisis, also believe that business will pick up at full speed again after the shutdown. A quick entry and exit. Germany is in a good economic position and is well prepared. The citizens and employees will immediately be fully able to work again, there will be no contaminated areas and no devastated industries.

The 'eagles' among the companies are currently in the minority, which is confirmed by the ifo Employment Barometer that shows a sharp decline in hires. The ifo Employment Barometer is based upon about 9000 monthly reports by companies from the manufacturing industries, the main construction industry, the wholesale and retail sector and the services sector. In this monthly report, the employers share their hiring plans for the next three months which gives us a preview of future developments. Moreover, it reflects the general mood in the business world. With regard to jobs in IT, the mood is significantly more optimistic and the decline in hires is far less noticeable.

The eagles increase their efforts in recruiting, because now that competition is lower than usual, it’s the ideal time to win IT experts for their own companies. Taking into account the duration of the hiring process and the usual notice periods, the Corona crisis will most likely be a thing of the past when the new employee starts working. And if not? Responsible companies will support new employees to some extent, e.g. by waiving the usual probationary period or by offering longer notice periods.

I strongly advise against postponing or even cancelling recruitment processes with IT experts, as these candidates will turn to other companies. And one thing is for sure: the 'struggle' for IT experts will be even more intense after the crisis.

And what about the candidates, do they even dare to enter into an application process right now? The ostriches among the candidates certainly don’t, they are careful, cautious and categorically reject all job offers: “Now is not the right time for a change”.

However, looking at the candidates, the ratio between ostriches and eagles differs from the ratio among companies and points more towards the eagles. I receive more requests by highly qualified candidates via social channels and job portals than ever before. It has to be noted, however, that these talents do not simply want to apply for a job, but prefer to put themselves in the hands of experienced consultants. They want to be provided with objective advice as well as comprehensive, high quality information about exciting vacancies and want to be guided throughout the application process. The trust placed in us and our position in the candidate market are the result of 15 years of high quality personnel consulting.

The eagles among the candidates are now wide awake. The see excellent career opportunities, recognize that the odds are in their favor and are confident enough to enter into an application process even in this challenging situation. Another factor is that many of them are unhappy with their current employer. Often, this is caused by hardly convincing business strategies and a lack of understanding of the digital transformation. These candidates are the driving force for a successful future after the crisis.

Benefit from this opportunity now. Welcome these courageous, confident and innovative candidates on board.