The new post-pandemic reality is something that not everyone has managed to adapt to. Many industries have faced dramatic changes: some businesses went bankrupt, some had to cut their staff, and many lacked profits. At the same time, IT has not only avoided such damage but, moreover, started to thrive more than before. Sergey Kartashov (Sergejs Kartasovs), CEO of Generation Partners, explains why the IT market has escaped all the obstacles of the pandemic crisis and whether the remote mode is a good option for working.
Working from home
Until recently, working from home was rather a privilege for an average worker in most industries. Such an option was available only for a relatively small group of freelancers and outsources. But in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic pushed businesses to switch to the online and remote mode.
This shift has pros and cons. Most employees find working from home a great option. Lately, there were even some protests and riots in the US as some employees refused to “return” back to the offices.
Business owners also found benefits from this situation: they could save money by refusing from renting premises and reducing non-technical employees that do not directly create added value for the company.
“Also, the border closure and severe quarantine restrictions have significantly reduced the number of events, business trips, conferences, training courses, and seminars—all the events that previously required large sums of money for their organization,” says Sergey Kartashov.
On the other hand, the remote mode of working brings challenges to the business as well. With few employees in the offices, it became difficult to implement corporate culture and create a strong team. According to Sergey Kartashov, business owners have faced several problems associated with lack of teambuilding: now, employees tend to lose productivity, they more often suffer from burnout. Therefore, a hybrid working week—partly from home, partly from the office—can be optimal for many specialists, including those who work in the IT industry.
The demand is higher than the supply
The global lockdown in 2020 pushed many businesses to develop their online services. While real-life restaurants and cafes had to close, the food delivery services thrived. The same situation also faced clothes stores, banks, and even medical services. The demand for creating and servicing websites, software, apps, providing cloud services, and cybersecurity became huge.
As a result, the demand for IT specialists in 2021 has increased almost tenfold. According to Sergey Kartashov, there are more vacancies than applicants in the IT sector. Companies are ready to hire people with no previous experience and promise relevant specialists much higher salaries and on average on the market. This is the so-called “overheating economy,” and it means that the market is developing way too fast and it is difficult to predict what changes it will undergo further.
Easy come—easy go
Since the demand for the IT market is much higher than the supply, IT employees nowadays tend to easier leave their jobs in order to get better conditions. They switch small firms to large corporations as the latter are usually offer higher salaries, more interesting projects, and better social guarantees.
According to Sergey Kartashov, this tendency may change the attitude of companies to the organization of the working process. It can happen, that more businesses will pay more attention to internal corporate culture and care of their employees more.
