Great for storage contractors, tough for those hiring

ON THE OTHER HAND, the dearth of skilled workers causing this high demand is making it increasingly difficult for hiring managers to fill positions. IntaPeople canvassed 10,000 storage professionals (from engineers & administrators to heads of practices & directors) with skill sets that encompass all the main storage vendors and manufacturers and questioned them on a variety of topics. Of the respondents, a majority of 76% reported an average daily rate of between £300 and £500 per day.

54% of contractors are generally only waiting a maximum of one month between contracts, with a further 33% only having to wait up to 3. Just 5% of respondents were typically waiting longer than 6 months between contracts.

When asked what it would take to move to a different role mid-contract, encouragingly a majority of 45% said that they would not move. Interestingly however, over a third said that they would consider moving for a more interesting project to work on. This goes to show that contractors are comfortable in their ability to find and retain work on their terms, so much so that many would consider leaving a job mid-contract which is usually frowned upon, possibly in order to have a more enjoyable and rewarding project to work on. Even more telling was that when asked whether they would compromise on their daily rate in order to work on a more interesting project, a staggering 84% of contractors said yes. All of this highlights not only the growth of the storage market as it matures on this side of the pond, but also the demand that this ever shrinking pool of professionals is under.

So work for contractors in the storage industry is plentiful enough that they are able to pick the best projects, even possibly compromising on their rate to do so. This demonstrates the need for companies & their partners to effectively market projects to perspective professionals.

A Senior Manager in Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), said: “Business is driven to seek value adding technology solutions. Those IT practitioners who possess this expertise will enjoy a premium career path.

“Thus “business” and “career solutions” are two sides to the same coin. Training and investment in training is the solution on both a corporate and individual level. This cycle has always existed so that experience is a vital commodity that simply cannot be bought or substituted.”

It seems then that the storage market is very much candidate-led, because their valuable services are so in demand by employers.
One of the reasons for this demand however is an apparent dearth of skilled professionals to fill an ever growing number of roles.

This issue is starting to be addressed by organisations like HDS, who are beginning to offer a graduate program that aims to get more people into the industry.
The fact remains though that securing a contractor can be a daunting prospect in the current climate.

Unless you are a full-time in-house recruiter, it’s unlikely that you will have the insight, personal network and time necessary to track down the best active candidates on the market.

A specialist recruitment service can be indispensable in these situations, as the time and headaches saved by outsourcing leaves those in charge of hiring free to actually do their jobs. Khuram Chowdhry, Principal Storage Consultant at IntaPeople Recruitment said: “It can be difficult for hiring managers to find qualified candidates without the use of an outsourced service.

“Even then, there are only a handful of dedicated storage recruitment professionals who have more than 3 years working in the industry. “An experienced storage recruiter can negotiate effectively with contractors and clients to achieve an outcome that is beneficial to both parties.”