Hiring managers responsible for IT recruiting for South Florida companies know that the war for talent has been heating up in recent years. Developers and engineers are experiencing a mere 2 percent unemployment rate while the rest of the country still hovers around 5.7 percent. To make things even more interesting, the Department of Labor has forecasted that the U.S. will have nearly a million more open tech jobs than qualified candidates to fill them by the year 2020.
As South Florida companies battle it out for the best and the brightest, candidates are finding themselves on the winning end of bidding wars for their services. In order to lure talent away from a competitor, employers are pulling out all the stops when it comes to salary, bonuses – including signing bonuses – and benefits.
The State of Florida’s Tech Employment
In the 2015 Cyberstates report released by industry trade group CompTIA, Florida’s tech industry was ranked fourth in the nation, employing over 300,000 workers last year. The average salary of these employees was around $80,000, 88 percent higher than the average wage across the state. The $25 billion tech payroll for 2014 and the average net job growth rate of 12,500 per year, indicates that the state isn’t slowing down when it comes to tech employment.
According to similar data provided by the Miami Herald, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area reports a higher-than-average growth in tech jobs. The region grew at 4.6 percent year-over-year while the rest of the state held at around 4.2 percent. That is likely because Miami is home to 30 percent of all of Florida’s technology firms.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The average salary for tech employees in Florida is around $20,000 less than the national average. This is likely a result of the fact that most of Florida’s tech jobs fall into the category of IT services where salaries are typically lower than high-level development and engineering careers. However, this gap is closing quickly as tech firms and other South Florida companies are upping their salary and bonus structures to win the war for talent. Part of what has been driving the uptick is the need to pull self-employed tech pros back into full-time employment to close skills gaps. Those former freelancers are demanding salaries that align with what they make on their own, which averages around $60 per hour or $125,000 per year.
If your South Florida enterprise wants to hire the right people with the right skills and you want to get them for the right price, CERS can help. We are a top-tier, nationally recognized recruiting and consulting firm that can help you tailor your hiring process to help you identify individuals who will be the right fit for your team, and we know the market inside and out so you can be sure you’re offering competitive salaries that fit within your internal budget. Contact us today to learn more about how our dynamic approach can empower you to hire with confidence.
