How can you source top-tier tech talent?

This article was produced in partnership with Indeed.

How can companies find great talent when great talent isn’t actively looking?

This is the question employers are grappling with in today’s job market, especially in the technology sector where there’s a shortage of skilled professionals. 

“It's crucial for employers to ensure their open roles reach the right people, whether those people are actively looking or not,” says Iain Hamilton, VP software engineering, Indeed. “Given the importance of finding the right candidate for the job, optimizing the recruitment process and maintaining competitiveness with the marketplace remains paramount.”

The Canadian landscape

It’s no secret the Canadian tech hiring market has cooled but overall, the number of workers in that sector hasn’t significantly declined in comparison to the growth over its decade-long boom. According to Statistics Canada, payroll employment in tech industries slipped only 1.5% from its peak in early 2023 and is still up 40% from four years earlier.

While given the state of the economy, job seekers might not have the same plethora of opportunities to choose from right now, that doesn't mean they're urgently searching for work either — resulting in employers struggling with talent acquisition, especially in specialized industries like technology.

“Tech talent is still in the driver’s seat, no matter what the broader economy is doing,” says Hamilton, pointing to statistics to illustrate the point.

According to data gathered by Indeed, the top 5 most difficult-to-fill tech jobs in Canada are:

• Principal software engineer (42% stay open for 60 days or more)
• Machine learning engineer (35% stay open for 60 days or more)
• Site reliability engineer (34% stay open for 60 days or more)
• Software architect (33% stay open for 60 days or more)
• Programmer (33% stay open for 60 days or more).

Ultimately, it’s a challenge to identify skilled candidates who can effectively fill open positions. The scarcity of qualified talent also complicates hiring for competitive roles, and constant staffing shortages intensify the difficulty.

“Reaching specialized workers in tech is hard and employers need tools to target both passive and active job seekers,” Hamilton says. “It’s a situation that demands innovative solutions.”

Revolutionizing traditional hiring

Indeed’s new innovative tools help employers hire faster and smarter. Tech Network is a recently launched ad network that allows companies to leverage targeted ads, where the people they want to reach are most likely to see them. This strategically addresses shortages and helps employers find diverse talent, a significant advantage — especially in industries such as tech.

The data on the recently launched Tech Network speaks for itself: by strategically advertising on over 25 tech-specific sites that average more than 4.4M monthly visits, the use of Indeed’s new tool more than triples tech job applications (3.5x).

Take Paylocity, who valued the efficiency of job ads on Tech Network, directing budget towards “quality over quantity, with a preference for 100 right candidates rather than a million candidates overall,” Hamilton says, adding the company witnessed a subsequent 5X increase in quality technology candidates compared to standard job ad campaigns.

“Our goal is to close the gap between employers and skilled professionals, whether they are actively job seeking or not. With Tech Network, we’re revolutionizing traditional hiring.”