of RItech. (PBN file photo)
Information technology workers are still in high demand in Rhode Island, and companies have had to revamp hiring strategies and re-think workplace environment in order to attract and retain employees. The result is a burgeoning new corporate culture catalyzed by the competition for IT talent.
“Anecdotally, my impression is that even with the Nasdaq not performing well, many Rhode Island companies are still not able to fill all of the IT positions they are creating” said Rick Kovar, director of the Rhode Island Technology Council. “Most of the companies are out there dealing with a number of other companies to help find people and bring them in.”
According to Kovar, however, recruiters are just a quick fix. Addressing the lifestyle demands of IT workers is a priority now, and such demands are quite different than what the business world is used to.
“It’s important for companies to realize that the paradigm of the nine to five world is gone,” said Kovar. He explains that, while people used to be expected to adapt to the culture of a company, the tables have been turned. “People look at their job as a part of their lifestyle; they don’t consider corporate culture to be something they need to fit into. IT workers have choices; they can choose the atmosphere they want to work in. Companies must be flexible to attract and keep those workers.”
The experiences of Aquidneck Management Associates, an information technology firm that is primarily a defense department contractor for the federal government, back up the notion that IT workers consider lifestyle to be one of the most, if not the most important of priorities.
“We’ve had people here leave for higher salaries, only to be back within weeks or two to three months” said Jeff Belden, he company’s director of administration. “We had two database administrators that were offered salaries to work in Boston that were 70 to 80 percent higher than what we were paying. We gave them a modest raise, but we didn’t come within 1,000 miles of what they were offered. Both stayed.”
Competing with the exorbitant salaries can do more harm to a company than good, according to Charlie Kroll, president of technology consulting firm Andera. “There have been some dumb hiring decisions at a lot of companies in the rush to fill seats,” he said. “Because of such situations, IT workers have become a lot more comfortable in their ability to job-hop. Salaries were pushed up to new levels and companies went so far out of their way to attract qualified IT workers that it ended up costing them in the long run.”
Andera has lost some employees to higher salaries. “We’ve been faced with situations in the past where someone making some reasonable amount of money here is apparently worth twice that amount to another company” he said. “In those situations we’ve had to part ways since we weren’t willing to make the concessions other employers were. But we’re still here to tell about it.”
Belden thinks it’s a combination of the workplace atmosphere and the technology available to the employees. “It is my impression that the stress level was a lot less here; there are no 17 hour workdays like you hear about in Silicon Valley. Also, the technology here is as good as the other places. People want to work with the newest stuff; they discovered that what they had here was state-of-the-art.”
Location and lifestyle go hand-in-hand, as both Belden and Kovar point out. “It seems that people choose to work here because they want to be on Aquidneck Island; they like the lifestyle.” Said Belden.
According to Kovar, location is essential, and just as companies need to be flexible, Rhode Island needs to work to meet the lifestyle expectations of IT workers. “Workers will go to places that offer the quality of life they want” he said. “The art and music scenes are important to IT workers.”
With location being a significant issue in the minds of IT employees, it is up to Rhode Island as well as its companies to make itself attractive to talent, especially if the state wants to be considered as a location by technology companies. “RITEC is working on an index of IT employers” said Kovar. “We are looking to point out our strengths and weakness, to see what works and what doesn’t. Because if you can attract workers, you can attract companies.”
