Senior IT Appointments Jobs Market April 2023
The headline-grabbing layoffs in the tech sector have been felt particularly acutely in the management and leadership echelons of both the Silicon Valley scale organisations as well as mid-scale and small-scale technology businesses across the island. The driving forces behind these adjustments vary from company to company, the most repeated rationalisations are: having over-hired, uncertainty or retrenchment in market conditions and inability to secure the next phase of funding.
In reality, this is a well-trodden path of growth and contraction in the tech sector, we’ve merely had a significantly longer period of growth over the last 15 years so the memories of the last significant reduction in headcount are dim at best. This will not be the last time we see this sequence of events.
Thus far the epicentre of the disruption has been within the technology business whose primary revenue stream is advertising, followed by software companies with a revenue model deeply tied to the SaaS pay-per-seat model.
Technology managers that have retained hands-on skills now find themselves in the strongest position since they’re able to contribute value on multiple fronts. As CXO-level business leaders are having to work harder to both secure funding as well as demonstrate ROI with more urgency, anyone with a successful track record of effectively engaging with VCs and board-level executives is best positioned to navigate the current macroeconomic climate.
On the positive side, there continues to be a healthy appetite for securing talented technology leaders in numerous market sectors including; finance (banking, insurance, funds & investment banking), FinTech, healthcare, HealthTech, pharma, cyber security, public sector as well as manufacturing and logistics.
There has been an impact on the overall compensation as many of the companies that used a generous long-term incentive plan (share options, RSU, stock or similar) to attract and secure talent are not currently looking to hire at a management and senior leadership level. Base salaries have not taken a significant drop but the ancillary elements of packages are less lavishing than when the thirst for talent was unquenchable.
The market consensus is that a version of hybrid working practices is the comfortable middle ground for all. Very few companies have been able to sustain fully remote working practices as well as productivity and cultural engagement within their teams.
Although the world as a whole was pulled into adjusting to and accepting more flexible working practices, there has been a steady trend of companies increasing the expectation for team members to be physically present for between 1-4 days a week in the office. We are seeing the hybrid model maturing and a longer-term established pattern for businesses of being successful while being flexible.
For more information on the current Senior IT Appointments jobs market and the latest salary bands, please download our IT Salary Survey below.