How talent scarcity is shaping tech culture, for better and for worse

Of course, technical talent benefits from talent scarcity. Salaries for these individuals have skyrocketed over the past few years, creating a new baseline for these roles. 

But how do higher and higher (and higher) salaries affect culture? 

For so many organizations, it becomes easy to demand overtime or add pressure to project timelines. Surely, if an organization pays more for engineers, they expect equal value in output. But we know what often happens when people are overworked and stressed: burnout culture that spreads to product, design, and marketing teams. 

Pair burnout with a software developer’s ability to change companies on a whim, and you’ve got our current problem: a perpetual and normalized cycle of high pay, burnout, and job switching.  

This is beneficial to no one. 

Sure, if you have enough money, you can hire who you need, but that’s not realistic for non-FAANG organizations. Companies need to proactively maintain their culture, prevent burnout, and create healthier workplaces.

Working from home has made implementing cultural benefits more difficult, as Ashley Streb, chief customer officer for DEPT® Americas, states, “I see a lot of what I call ‘fatigue’ within organizations. I believe this stems from a lack of separation between work and home. There is not as much variety in experiences which feels monotonous. We’ve seen this at DEPT® too.” 

The solution? 

“It’s all about bringing back the human element. Connecting with people is important for variety, burnout prevention, and meaning amidst the day-to-day.

“Something like DEPT® Fest or happy hours gives people the time to connect which recharges us all. People have lost that human element, so we all need to find ways to have that in our cultures.” 

Despite the problems of burnout in many organizations, no one can deny that there have been positive cultural impacts due to the power of individual workers. 

Agile companies have made their work environments healthier, granting more freedom, satisfaction, and work-life balance to their teams. 

These adaptive companies are widening the gap between themselves and old-school, legacy organizations. The gap might now be restricted to talent, but eventually, it will be the ability to operate a successful business in this decade. 

Organizations that cling to a “traditional” work culture will undoubtedly hemorrhage technical talent, whether they can pay well or not. 

In fact, Allan Winterseick, Managing Partner at Devetry (part of Dept), predicts that “Scarcity will weed out companies, starting this decade. The shifts in work culture trends may not look huge year to year. However, in five years, if you haven’t culturally evolved, you won’t be able to hire enough technical folks. I think we’ll start to see companies fail.”