For employee retention, don’t forget career paths

IT job researchers are predicting plenty of opportunities in the tech job market—and plenty of flux as professionals compete for those opportunities.

With projected turnover, industry pros who spoke with IT Brew recommended employers strengthen their work perks, including one offering that’s less obvious than a giant raise: a clear road for career advancement.

There are relatively few security organizations that have a mature career development model, said Brad Rager, CEO and founder of the cybersecurity talent platform Crux.

“Oftentimes, people will find themselves in a role without a very visible promotion path forward. They may be a senior technical person that only has an opportunity to be a manager and they don’t want to be a manager,” Rager told IT Brew.

Turnover time. After 2023’s increased annual inflation (by 3.4%), Crux’s Q4 report predicts a return to turnover in the cybersecurity space.

“Operating under a base assumption that the global economy will return to something more normal in ’24 (1–2% GDP growth, lower inflation), we see pent up desire for movement. This has been a year of reduced promotions and budget headwinds and we speak with many candidates that are ready to hop to their next step, when the opportunity arises,” read Crux’s post.

While Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, does not envision the turnover rate increasing substantially beyond its usual rates; he expects lots of options for today’s and tomorrow’s tech pros.

According to CompTIA’s 2023 State of the Tech Workforce report, tech occupation employment over the next 10 years is expected to grow at about twice the rate of overall employment across the economy: by 266% for data scientists and data analysts, by 242% for cybersecurity analysts and engineer, and by 180% for software developers and engineers.

“The job market that we’re seeing today will frequently have 100, 200, or 500 applications for a given role. And that’s just not something we’ve seen the past few years in cybersecurity,” Rager said.

Perks at work. What matters to the hundreds of applicants? A 2023 survey from the market firm Gartner found that 690 IT candidates noted “flexibility in working hours,” “compensation range,” and “remote work policy” as top factors in job selection. Fifth on the list, from 35% of respondents: “potential career path for the role.”

Lily Mok, research VP at Gartner, sees a similar desire from today’s candidates. “Managers and leaders really need to think about how these different talent management programs you already have in place, how you leverage it and build on to it to personalize that experience,” Mok told IT Brew.

Herbert added that tech pros will likely want to stay on top of emerging technologies. A cybersecurity professional will perhaps want an understanding of AI and its implications for offense and defense—that training requires good managers who encourage it.

“The other frustration here is that a worker will go through training, and then they’re back on the job and nothing changes. So, there has to be alignment with how the company is actually operating their processes,” Herbert said.

Rager mentioned career pathway efforts from Dropbox. The Crux CEO noted the file-hosting company’s “clearly articulated skills, requirements, and expectation requirements” for its technical and managerial paths.

“If the managers always only want to hold on to their talent and don’t get them to explore different opportunities, and support them in that regard: This is where the individuals will start looking at who actually can offer me more options and alternatives to grow,” Mok said.