How can HR pros escape the hire-layoff cycle in tech?

Tech execs predict a hiring spree may be on the horizon. Yep, you read that right.

According to a new report from General Assembly, the for-profit coding academy and tech talent company, execs predict an upswing in hiring—the “boom” portion of what the report dubs the “boom-bust” approach to hiring tech talent.

The report found that 55% of tech leaders predict hiring will pick back up in the next six months. It surveyed 500 data and software engineering senior leaders in the US.

“Over 2023, we saw a lot of those sexy tech companies that hired tons of people in those tech roles…they’ve started to do the mass let-go of people,” said Catie Brand, who runs General Assembly’s employer solutions business. “Companies can only survive so long without technology talent, though.”

Of those surveyed, 59% say their organization lacks the correct tech talent to meet their digital transformation goals.

“Product roadmaps are suffering, revenue is suffering…and on top of that…you need to be doing generative AI everywhere in your organization,” Brand said.

AI-enabled platforms and tools are foundational for companies across all industries, and IT and tech employees need a specialized set of skills to leverage it.

What Brand expects is a new talent market where companies are competing for a small talent pool of the most skilled tech workers, especially when it comes to generative AI.

What’s HR to do? What’s clear to Brand is that it’s on companies and talent management pros to address the cyclical boom-bust strategy.

First, HR and TA pros can shift away from hiring decisions based on résumé or pedigree and take a skills-based approach, she said. This isn’t a new trend, but generative AI—and the rapid pace of technological advancements it has enabled—make this shift more urgent. Brand notes that there are credentialing tools available to assess if a candidate possesses the needed skills to fill a role.

Additionally, Brand says train-to-hire programs, like ones she helps oversee at General Assembly, can help companies meet their workforce needs by opening a talent pipeline to nontraditional pools.

“We can take somebody who’s in a non-technical position, train them up in a matter of weeks on a specific generative AI platform, and then place them for a very specific role within the organization, and you’re not overpaying for all the other skills they have,” she said. “You’re just paying for the skills they just learned, which is infinitely cheaper.”

Finally, it’s on companies to reskill and upskill their employees to meet the AI and tech needs of the moment, Brand said. Rather than searching in a tiny talent pool for the skilled workforce your company may need, check out the capabilities of your own workforce and develop current employees to meet your needs.

“Look at the talent that you have internally and say, ‘How can we retrain them?’ Because the skills they have probably are only two or three years old,” she said. “And hey, guess what, along the way, those people are gonna be really happy that [you] just invested in them and they’re gonna be learning all this cool, cutting-edge technology in their job. They’re gonna be really engaged and happy in the workforce.”