ESN / IT services companies: Nearshore development as a solution to the shortage of developers

Do you have a mobile or web development project in mind, but are struggling to find the necessary IT skills? We understand.

For several years now, many startups, SMEs, and large companies have struggled to fill IT positions. The global talent shortage poses a real challenge for businesses and project leaders alike.

The reasons for these recruitment difficulties are numerous, but the result is the same: many projects are on hold due to a lack of required expertise. If this article interests you, it’s because you have already faced this obstacle or are currently dealing with it.

Whether you are a startup CTO, a project leader, a talent scout, or a recruiter, you are surely looking for the best way to find the developer you need, without going in circles.

In this article, we will address your concerns by exploring the following points:

1. Current Status: Statistics on the global talent shortage
2. What about the situation in France?
3. Factors driving the IT talent shortage
4. Finding skilled developers during a shortage
5. Outsourcing your web and mobile development to an IT services company
6. Opting for Nearshore Staff Augmentation with Aventique

Current Status: Statistics on the global IT talent shortage

The global labor market has been facing recruitment difficulties for several years. Previously, the main reasons were linked to a lack of necessary skills to fill vacant positions.

This crisis facing employers was amplified by the arrival of the pandemic two years ago. The 2021 ManpowerGroup report highlights that 7 out of 10 companies (69%) reported talent shortages and recruitment difficulties: the highest percentage in 15 years.

European employers report the greatest difficulties in filling vacancies, particularly in France, Romania, and Italy.

IT Recruitment in France: Where do we stand?

Compared to the global talent shortage, France is one of the countries suffering the most, with an 88% recruitment difficulty rate. For example: out of every 100 positions to be filled, only 12 are successfully filled, leaving 88 vacancies.

The talent shortage in France affects several fields ranging from IT and HR to communication and marketing. However, tech professions are the most affected by the crisis.

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According to the GEN study on the top 15 most sought-after digital jobs in France, the Full-stack Developer (a developer mastering both front and back-end languages) ranks 1st with 6,289 job offers. In 2nd place is DevOps (a role combining development and operational implementation skills) with 4,695 job offers.

These statistics demonstrate the significant shortage of developers in the French labor market.

The study also shows the evolution of demand for data-related roles. In addition to front and backend developers who are still in high demand, data analysts and UX/UI designers are also seeing a rise in demand.

Ultimately, all these digital professions are complementary and primarily belong to the IT domain.

Distribution of IT needs across French regions

IT recruitment needs are distributed throughout France, but certain regions record a larger gap.

It is not surprising that Île-de-France is the region with the most manifest need, being the primary economic region of France. It is the hub for SMEs and startups in the digital sector.

Figures from the recruitment platform Indeed confirm this observation with 7,300 vacancies for developers, including:

• Full-stack developer: 1,038 vacancies;
• Front-end developer: 1,745 vacancies;
• Back-end developer: 1,250 vacancies;
• DevOps: 3,900 vacancies.

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region takes second place with over 4,000 startups and 3,000 positions to fill in web and mobile development. Home to the Regional Digital Campus in Lyon, digital vacancies remain a major topic there.

Factors driving the IT talent shortage

Skills gap in the face of technological evolution

Beyond the lack of talent in the mobile and web development sector, the tech talent shortage extends to several IT-related roles (IT project manager, UI/UX designer, Product Owner, etc.). This implies the absence of key elements responsible for preparing the foundation on which developers work later. A vicious cycle, isn’t it?

The close link between different technological roles makes recruitment even more difficult for SMEs and even larger companies. Indeed, recruitment difficulties do not only affect startups and new businesses.

According to a Gartner report (a reference in IT consulting and research), the talent shortage is the primary reason behind companies’ inability to integrate 64% of emerging technologies. Consequently, companies struggle to finalize ongoing projects and cannot consider a change in technology or the adoption of new tools to keep up with rapid tech evolution due to a lack of adequate skills.

In 2022, we are no longer just talking about a talent shortage linked to a desire to expand teams; it is also about a missing core workforce, a consequence of a rising skill gap.

This inability to fill vacancies is directly caused by a notable gap in candidate skills. Although the number of IT graduates is high every year, recruiters find that very few candidates possess the necessary basic background.

The Gartner report indicates that only 20% of IT automation technologies studied in the survey have seen an increase in adoption by companies since 2020. The main reason is directly linked to the IT talent shortage.

According to forecasts, many companies finding themselves unable to recruit the right profiles will be overtaken by competitors following technological evolution in the near future.

Working Conditions

The issue of working conditions was already becoming noticeable long before the pandemic. Candidates were becoming more demanding regarding company values and the imposed work mode.

The arrival of the pandemic accelerated this reflection among many workers. With the rise of remote work during the first lockdown and the focus on mental health and worker fulfillment, priorities regarding job retention or future job choices have changed.

Companies now find themselves forced to comply with candidate demands and find ways to attract their next team member by adapting their working conditions.

Increased need for IT infrastructure since the pandemic

The pandemic forced most companies to adapt their digital infrastructure to meet the needs of the new work mode, which is primarily remote.

To ensure a smooth transition to remote work, a competent IT team is required to guarantee the monitoring and maintenance of the used IT infrastructure. This is the challenge many companies faced at the beginning of the pandemic: finding these skills.

Finding skilled developers during a shortage

The need for skills in new technology fields is a phenomenon companies have been dealing with for several years. In two years, this shortage has significantly intensified.

Indeed, one of the main consequences of the pandemic is the urgent need for digital transformation. This imperative implies a high demand for IT talent, contrasted with great difficulty in meeting internal IT needs on the company side.

On the developer side, these two years have been used to improve and adapt working conditions to create balance.

Remote work, fixed-term/project-based contracts, and freelancing are the new preferred work modes in web and mobile development.

As a result, unless companies agree to adapt, it remains very difficult to fill vacancies in the IT sector. One solution to consider for this problem is outsourcing IT projects to an IT services company (ESN/SSII).

Outsource your web and mobile development to an IT Services Company

Backed by expertise in IT and new technologies, an ESN (formerly SSII) is a service company aimed at providing tailored support to its clients for project realization. This support can take many forms, from consulting to training, and through the design, implementation, and maintenance of tools.

Once reserved for large corporations, IT outsourcing is a solution increasingly considered by SMEs and startups to benefit from the expertise of an IT services company while reducing long-term costs.

Entrusting your website or mobile app development to a specialized IT services company ensures high-quality results throughout all stages of project development.

In fact, choosing in-house development involves recruiting one or more developers depending on the project’s needs for a long duration, which will be more expensive and take longer to complete.

With an IT services company, you have two possibilities for your web/mobile development project:

• Fixed-price development: This contract is based on fixed billing and an estimate of the time devoted to the project. The fixed-price contract is more expensive than staff augmentation but offers peace of mind for the client, as the ESN assumes full responsibility for the project.
• Nearshore Staff Augmentation (Régie): This is a contract based on the daily rate for development over a pre-defined period according to detailed specifications. The IT services company provides the client with an experienced developer exclusive to the project for the agreed contract period.

Opting for Nearshore Staff Augmentation with Aventique

Staff augmentation (Régie) is the most suitable solution for the current talent crisis. You benefit from the expertise of a seasoned developer at a lower cost and without going through the recruitment process.

The principle of Nearshore staff augmentation is simple: it is a type of IT subcontracting that provides clients with confirmed skills from countries where the cost of living is lower than in France. This means candidates are satisfied with relatively lower salaries and lower overhead costs for you.

Furthermore, Aventique (IT Services Company) offers Nearshore staff augmentation by providing the client with one of its developers working remotely within the same time zone. Aventique’s Nearshore developers reside in Algeria, which guarantees synchronized working hours and a daily rate lower than the competition (starting from 250 euros/day).

This solution allows project leaders and SMEs to integrate the missing skill for their current project while avoiding the constraint of talent searching.

With Aventique’s competitive daily rates, you win by benefiting from dedicated expertise and optimal project costs. If you have a project to outsource, don’t hesitate to request a quote! 😉