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Nov 15, 2022
HELSINKI, Finland – November 15, 2022 – The latest survey by Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's digital infrastructure company™, revealed global IT leaders have serious concerns about staff retention and recruitment.
According to the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey, 62% of IT decision-makers view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business. Companies—including Equinix—are looking to widen the talent pool, bringing in more diverse candidates through alternative recruitment drives. The 2,900 survey respondents acknowledged the speed at which the tech industry is transforming has left companies struggling to find people with the right skill sets to meet present and future challenges.
The majority of IT decision-makers in Finland believe the biggest skills challenges for business in the future are going to be talent retention and large unqualified applicant pools. The most common concerns in Finland came down to the retention of current talent (55%) and the changing expectations around ways of working (43%), such as hybrid work and flexible working.
Most IT decision-makers in Finland believe the biggest skills challenges facing the tech sector as a whole are the speed at which the industry is transforming (65%) and the lack of available talent (58%). Meanwhile, 41% of respondents believe that lack of diversity is a challenge.
Across Finland, the most in-demand tech employees are AI and Machine Learning (29%), data analysts (22%) and security analysts (19%). Globally, IT leaders anticipate the gaps in tech skills will remain similar in the future, with AI/machine learning becoming even more prominent. Looking to the future, those same tech skills are anticipated to be the main challenges –IT decision-makers in Finland say IT technician and AI/Machine learning skills will be the biggest tech skills gaps three years from now (in 2025).
Surprisingly, six in 10 IT decision-makers in Finland report reskilling workers for tech-focused roles. By far the most common approach is to reskill workers from the IT sector and other related industries.
“With recent layoffs, workers will start looking for opportunities to level up their skills or careers. Due to this, tech companies that offer training and development opportunities could be better positioned to attract talent – like we do at Equinix”, explains Sami Holopainen, Managing Director of Equinix in Finland. “In Finland, companies need to do some forward thinking and strategize on their future talent needs. Companies will need more talented people in tech, which also requires putting more effort into diverse recruiting and creating inclusive work environments.”
Gary Aitkenhead, Senior Vice President, EMEA IBX Operations at Equinix, noted: “The skills gap is present across the entire tech industry, but is particularly acute in operations roles where the rapid pace of change means the workforce needs to be constantly upskilled and expanded. At Equinix, we run comprehensive training programs to ensure our current employees have the skills they need, but it is more difficult to find new recruits with the right skill sets. Ultimately, not enough people are aware of the career opportunities within the data center industry. To help solve this problem, Equinix is trialling a number of initiatives in EMEA, including career transition programs such as the “I am Remarkable” project in the UK that aims to help people from diverse backgrounds return to the workforce after taking a career gap.”
To further progress in this area, Equinix recently launched the Equinix Foundation, partnering with organizations to advance digital inclusion, from providing access to technology and connectivity, to developing the skills required for technology careers. The Foundation aims to support nonprofits working to prepare individuals of all ages and backgrounds to succeed in today's digital world.
To read more about the Global Tech Trends Survey or download a copy, please visit: Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey
About the Survey
The independent study, commissioned by Equinix, surveyed 2,900 IT decision-makers in diverse enterprises across the Americas (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, U.S.), Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea), and EMEA (Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, UK). Respondents were selected for participation from Dynata’s online panel. The survey was conducted online between March 1, 2022, and March 29, 2022.
Learn more about the Equinix Foundation.
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About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world’s digital infrastructure company. Digital leaders harness Equinix’s trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks to our business and operating results related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the current inflationary environment; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; increased costs to procure power and the general volatility in the global energy market; the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX® and xScale® data centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products and solutions; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenues from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; risks related to our taxation as a REIT and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent and upcoming Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
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