IT support jobs have been hit hard by the phenomenon coined The Great Resignation. One of the less predictable and more surprising outcomes from COVID-19, The Great Resignation refers to the unprecedented volume of the American workforce that have quit their jobs during the pandemic. The trend began in spring 2021 and picked up steam throughout the remainder of that year. In November 2021 alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, representing 3% of the nonfarming U.S. workforce.
The Impact of The Great Resignation on IT Services
While there are several industries that have been hard hit by The Great Resignation, leisure and hospitality being a frequently referenced example, IT departments have had their own unique set of challenges around high employee turnover.
Hybrid workforces are the New Normal
While remote work has been steadily on the rise for years, COVID-19 and the resulting work-from-home mandates that were imposed globally fast-tracked the remote work trend faster than anyone could have anticipated. And remote work will be sticking around; career site Ladders predicts that 1 in 4 North American professional jobs will be remote by the end of the year.
While fans of the work-from-home (WFH) lifestyle continue to drive this hybrid model as the world slowly starts to return to a pre-COVID sense of normalcy, the WFH and hybrid workforce do impose additional pressures on IT departments that need to accommodate for the heightened vulnerabilities and more complex IT demands that these environments present.
Cyberattacks are more prevalent than ever
As the pandemic swept the globe, cybercriminals took note:
- By June 2020, the FBI had reported a 75% surge in cybercrime
- There was a 148% increase in ransomware attacks in March 2020
- There was a 47% spike in ransom demands in the second quarter of 2020
- 84% of IT professional survey respondents reported gaps in disaster recovery planning in June 2020.
Even without data for 2021, we can safely say these trends continue to climb. The why is simple: Criminals are quick to act when vulnerabilities and opportunities present themselves, and COVID presented both in spades. Ensuring strong cybersecurity services has never been more important.
Emerging technology is on the rise
Careers website Indeed recently named information technology as the top fastest growing industry in their list of 12 fastest growing industries in the United States. They predict the industry will grow at 12% over the next decade, making it ripe for career opportunities. For an industry that is already struggling with labor shortages and is feeling the immense strain from The Great Resignation, this provides hope while also highlighting the shortage of skilled labor and lack of specialization.
There is heavy competition for skilled IT talent
Strong tech talent is in high demand. Korn Ferry is projecting that 85 million tech jobs may go unfilled by 2030. In particular, smaller companies can be at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring, as they may be unable to match the salary and benefit offerings that their larger competitors can bring to the negotiating table.
IT Projects may get shelved
All of this may lead to bigger-picture and more strategic IT projects being delayed. These are the types of projects that can ultimately improve efficiency and lead to higher profitability or productivity. Some are even cancelled outright. When short-staffed IT departments are constantly putting out fires and struggling to simply stay on top of the basic day-to-day requirements, these broader projects are often moved to the bottom of the priority list, no matter how high impact they may eventually prove to be.
The Solution to IT Staffing Shortages
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to these IT staffing shortages brought on by The Great Resignation: co-managed IT services. Managed IT support is a cost-effective model that allows an organization to work with an IT business partner who takes on their heavy IT lifting needs, fills skill gaps, and ensures they are up to speed on the latest developments in the rapidly evolving field of information technology and security.
The many and varied advantages of managed IT services make for an easy business decision:
- Budget friendliness – With a consistent monthly retainer based on your organization’s unique IT requirements, expenditure tracking is predictable and affordable.
- On top of changing regulatory needs – Proper IT oversight is no longer a nice-to-have. For many industries it is a legally mandated requirement of operating and ensuring insurance coverage.
- Flexibility – In the everchanging IT environment, having the ability to scale up and down as requirements evolve can be a huge game changer for organizations.
- Cutting-edge expertise – IT solutions and security updates change so frequently that having a business partner who is in the know can give a true competitive advantage.
Deerwood Technologies is the go-to partner to help your organization weather The Great Resignation and beyond. While other organizations continue to feel the ripple effects from high turnover and low employee retention, your organization can rest easy knowing that, thanks to IT outsourcing, it is in multidisciplined and solutions-based hands. Schedule your comprehensive IT risk assessment today.