Insights for hiring managers
When it comes to hiring cloud professionals, knowledge is power. Knowing what motivates candidates, and what kind of strategies are most effective in positioning your organization as an employer of choice, can go a long way towards helping build sustainable talent pipelines that will keep top Microsoft professionals coming through your doors for years to come. So what do candidates want from their job roles in today’s market?
What strategies are employers using to stay competitive in attracting talent?
57%
39%
35%
32%
| Engaging employees around the mission, vision, and values of the organization | 30% |
| Investment in training programs | 30% |
| Increased benefits and perks | 25% |
| Equality, diversity, and inclusive hiring practices | 24% |
| Introduction of a bonus (monthly/bi-annual/year-end bonus) | 22% |
| Increased leadership visibility | 20% |
| Company profit sharing | 16% |
| Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy | 14% |
| Developing a business case for more resources | 14% |
| None of the above | 14% |
| Other | 1% |
| Engaging employees around the mission, vision, and values of the organization | 30% |
| Investment in training programs | 30% |
| Increased benefits and perks | 25% |
| Equality, diversity, and inclusive hiring practices | 24% |
| Introduction of a bonus (monthly/bi-annual/year-end bonus) | 22% |
| Increased leadership visibility | 20% |
| Company profit sharing | 16% |
| Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy | 14% |
| Developing a business case for more resources | 14% |
| None of the above | 14% |
| Other | 1% |
Get in-demand Microsoft skills to make the most of your implementation
Looking for mid-level Microsoft talent with the skills and experience to hit the ground running?
Hiring Microsoft professionals
Hiring managers tell us that, on average, it takes four months and three weeks to find a new Microsoft hire. And 42% of hiring managers told us they want to hire a Microsoft professional in the next 12 months. Of those planning to hire, over two-fifths (42%) are confident they can find the right candidate on the first attempt, while 32% are not.
What are your top tech staffing challenges over the next 12 months?
43%
30%
Lack of resource/capacity
in-house
30%
30%
| Managing remote employees | 28% |
| Lack of skills/experience in the market | 28% |
| Difficulty paying the market rate/what candidates demand | 22% |
| Lack of skills in-house | 17% |
| Buy-in from senior leadership on the need to recruit | 13% |
| Disengaged employees | 9% |
| Virtual recruiting | 9% |
| Our current training program is not effective in upskilling inexperienced candidates | 9% |
| An increase in demand for contractor/freelancers | 9% |
| Personnel change (e.g., redundancies, restructure, and role changes) | 7% |
| Difficulty identifying the skills we need/lack | 6% |
| Not sure | 10% |
| Other | 2% |
| Managing remote employees | 28% |
| Lack of skills/experience in the market | 28% |
| Difficulty paying the market rate/what candidates demand | 22% |
| Lack of skills in-house | 17% |
| Buy-in from senior leadership on the need to recruit | 13% |
| Disengaged employees | 9% |
| Virtual recruiting | 9% |
| Our current training program is not effective in upskilling inexperienced candidates | 9% |
| An increase in demand for contractor/freelancers | 9% |
| Personnel change (e.g., redundancies, restructure, and role changes) | 7% |
| Difficulty identifying the skills we need/lack | 6% |
| Not sure | 10% |
| Other | 2% |
Are Microsoft professionals experiencing burnout?
Defined as a prolonged state of overwork resulting in physical and psychological exhaustion, burnout has been a prominent topic in the tech industry over the past few years. Burnout is often the inevitable result of extended periods of stress, and can cause employees to become disengaged from their working lives. It can have a massively detrimental effect on mental and physical health, and severely dents how effective and productive professionals can be in their roles.
So how prevalent is burnout in the Microsoft community today—and what can employers do to help avoid it?
According to our respondents, what were the consequences of experiencing burnout?
- Irritability and frustration
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fatigue and exhaustion
- Reduced work-life balance
- Poor physical and mental health—including sleep disturbances and diagnosed stress, resulting in sickness leave or taking a sabbatical
- Loss of projects
- Impaired cognitive function—including reduced ability to focus and make decisions
- Low morale among colleagues
- Diminished creativity
- Apathy, reduced motivation, commitment and withdrawal from work
- Reduced productivity, efficiency, and work output
- Diminished quality of work—including making more errors
- Increased turnover as employees pursue other opportunities
Fortunately, some employers are compassionate and understanding when recognizing the toll that burnout can take on an individual’s well-being. A case in point is a Microsoft professional in the United States who shared, “my productivity dropped for a week or two, and my supervisors were understanding and helped me reset my work-life balance, which allowed me to return to full productivity within a month”.
Conversely, when burnout goes unaddressed, it can significantly hinder an employee’s capacity for creativity and sound decision-making. As a Trainer from the United States explained, “for me, burnout impacted the ability to be more creative in solving problems, meaning I tended to go with the obvious answers even if they were stale and dated”. This sentiment was echoed by other respondents, including one Developer from the US who said: “Burnout reduces the interest I have in finding more innovative solutions to problems”.
The consequence of burnout extends beyond job performance, manifesting in physical and mental fatigue, making it challenging to perform daily tasks efficiently. This happened to an Australian Solution Architect: “I was constantly exhausted, which impacted my personal life as there was no work-life balance, meaning my household management declined”.
At its worst, it can also wreak havoc on an individual’s overall happiness and mental health. One Functional Consultant from Australia experienced this consequence, and it led to them leaving their organization: “Burnout resulted in lots of health issues for me, which caused me to quit my job and swap to another organization with a better fit for myself”.
The future workplace
Are Microsoft professionals happy to work in the office five days a week?
Microsoft Cloud professionals show a preference once again for a hybrid working arrangement (45% compared to 46% in our last survey).
- Yes, I’d be happy to work in the office full-time
- No, I’d prefer to work fully remote
- No, I’d prefer hybrid working (e.g., some of the time in the office and some at another remote location/home)
- Not sure
- Yes, I’d be happy to work in the office full-time
- No, I’d prefer to work fully remote
- No, I’d prefer hybrid working (e.g., some of the time in the office and some at another remote location/home)
- Not sure
| Yes | No | Not sure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| An advantage in hiring new staff | 90% | 2% | 8% |
| An advantage in retaining staff | 89% | 3% | 8% |
The future of work
How, where and when we work have been subject to major changes over the past few years, but for all the talk of a new normal, it seems that general opinion on the issue is beginning to settle. When asked about their preferred working environment, our respondents’ answers largely matched those given in last year’s survey, giving employers a strong indication of what candidates expect from employers in today’s market.
Only 15% of respondents stated that they’d be happy to work from an office five days a week, with more than two-thirds (37%) favoring full-time remote work. Hybrid working was once again the most popular choice, with 45% of Microsoft professionals citing a flexible arrangement as the way they work best.
Though full-time remote working may not have become the new standard, as many have suspected over the past few years, it remains a much sought-after benefit for many professionals. Clearly, offering flexible working options not only allows organizations to recruit from a wider geographical area, but it also gives businesses an edge over their competitors. A massive 90% of the hiring managers we surveyed said that offering remote work gave them an advantage when hiring new staff. A similarly high percentage (89%) also said that such options help them retain staff too.
Insights from currently unemployed Microsoft professionals
Top factors that are important to unemployed professionals when seeking a role
How likely are unemployed professionals to accept a role that involves working in the office five days a week?
- Likely
- Neither likely nor unlikely
- Unlikely
Takeaways for hiring managers
Competition for talent is presenting a significant challenge for hiring managers in the Microsoft ecosystem, with 43% of respondents citing this struggle as the biggest obstacle to hiring in the coming year. As a result, many organizations are revisiting their talent acquisition strategies and working on building an appealing employer brand that puts them ahead of their peers.
For most organizations, professional development, employee wellbeing, and more attractive salaries are the primary targets of their investments. This should be noted by any organization in the Microsoft space that’s looking to build out its team in the next 12 months; although larger pay packages are often effective in the short-term, focusing on upskilling employees and helping them stay happy and healthy is a clear focus for many businesses in their efforts to create sustainable talent strategies.
