COMP NEWS – A new survey indicates that companies are struggling to retain top talent in tech and examines just what prospective employees are looking for from their employers.

Right now companies are having a tough time finding, hiring, and keeping the top technical talent they need to keep their businesses running and growing. Employers used to think that appropriate pay was enough, but that’s changed: To attract and keep talented people, companies need to understand how their priorities have shifted — and be able to offer people what they’re really looking for.

To shed light on why top tech talent stay in a job or choose to move on, Bain surveyed more than 500 tech employees and 230 enterprise technology organizations globally. 

The survey delivered three important insights. First, the problem is very real: only 13% of these employers said they are able to hire and keep the tech talent they need most. Second, workers make employment decisions on much more than compensation alone. Finally, we learned that there can be a striking difference between the factors that influence a decision to join a company and those that determine how long a tech employee stays there.

Three desires that stand out the most are lack of growth opportunities, lack of flexibility, and lack of rewards.

Our survey found that the top reason otherwise engaged employees decide to look for a new job is a lack of learning and growth opportunities — they can’t see how to move forward and continue to develop if they stay in their current role. When their future at a company looks like more of the same — or isn’t really defined at all — they begin to spend more time on Dice, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter.

The second most common reason workers start looking at other jobs is lack of flexibility. About two-thirds of employees say they want to keep a mix of remote and in-office work, and 46% said they would consider leaving a company that stopped offering the flexibility to work remotely. While a third of employees say that they would like to work remotely up to four days a week, they also see value in working together in person sometimes to help build a cohesive team. Flexibility entails more than just where work happens, too — it’s also when employees are expected to work, with whom, and on what projects. (Flexibility is also one of the leading qualities people look for when searching for a new job, with 40% saying it was a top three reason for joining a company).

Rewards and recognition rank third in reasons people start cruising job sites. But, because it’s an area that employers can have direct and immediate control over, most companies have actively been improving the package. About 70% of companies said they have increased salaries and base pay over the previous year, 47% said they have increased bonus pay, about a third said they have increased health benefits, and nearly one in four said they have added more time off.

To read more about what attracts top talent in the tech industry, click here.

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