Personnel service provider GECO

The situation on the market for IT specialists has been known for years: There is an immense demand in actually all areas, and a massive shortage of skilled workers on the supply side at the same time. This is where GECO comes into play as a personnel service provider. As a rule, we bring IT experts and companies perfectly together and thus ensure a win-win-win situation for all parties involved.

Growing challenge: high bounce rate

Nevertheless, there definitely is potential for optimization in some areas. We are currently observing one trend in particular, which we are trying to counteract in the interest of our clients and our candidates: The bounce rate of applicants has recently increased significantly. In the IT industry, we are now noticing that up to 50 percent of candidates are abandoning the application process. This development has been becoming more and more apparent in almost all specialist markets for the past three, four years, but is particularly acute in the IT sector. The patience of applicants to deal with potentially lengthy application processes and to wait too long for an acceptance (or rejection) has reached an all-time low.

Three Tipps for fewer discontinuations and more IT candidates

We therefore recommend that companies take proactive countermeasures wherever possible by adapting their application processes even better to the current IT market and the extreme shortage of skilled workers. In our experience, there are three areas in particular, where relatively little effort is required to attract more candidates:

1. focus on the application

The principle is by now, that companies apply to IT candidates. The shortage of IT specialists requires a dedicated and committed approach - not only in terms of salary. It is rather a question of creating individual incentives, for example with social benefits or, most especially, remote work. In addition, the job and applicant profile should be matched in detail, and companies literally must court the attention of the applicant. Personally, continuously, transparently. Our consultants will be happy to assist you during this process because we know our candidates very well, naturally.

2. lean application processes

The internal application process, which accounts for the majority of the time-to-hire, the time from application to hiring, is often a bit too bureaucratic and complicated. Do all departments, from HR to management, really need to be involved in the application process? Does it really take several stages, interviews and conversations over weeks until there is agreement on the candidate? We think: In many cases, this is de facto not necessary and lean processes are sufficient.

Our tip: with precisely defined responsibilities and tight knit coordination processes, which only the people and departments really affected make decisions, applicant management can usually be accelerated considerably. For example: With effective slots for appointments timed by our GECO experts – we will happily advise and help you! 

3. faster commitments

The keyword is acceleration. This brings us to the final point, that is often decisive in the end: Rapid confirmation of promising candidates, if possible. In our experience, final feedback to candidates takes four to six weeks on average. But IT applicants now expect a decision within days, otherwise they will accept another offer. You therefore should allow a maximum of one week for an acceptance or rejection. Anything else increases the likelihood of candidates bailing out immensely.

Trust in experts

We happily support you in optimizing your application processes and procedures. Our consultants are experienced specialists with detailed industry knowledge, knowing exactly what applicants expect and which candidates fit your requirements. If desired, we can also work with you more intensely during the application process itself. With our services, you can shorten your time-to-hire and significantly reduce the bounce rate. Get in touch with us! We are looking forward to advising you in detail on this important topic!