NEW YORK, March 5, 2008 - With technology and telecommunications companies still looking to lure talent using traditional compensation-based approaches, there is a disconnect between HR practices and candidates’ priorities, according to a new Deloitte survey.

The study, “Competing For Talent,” found that the vast majority of companies in these sectors are relying on financial incentives to attract and retain employees. In contrast, the study found that today’s workforce values greater freedom in schedules and control of where and how they work over financial compensation.

"The conflicting perspectives between technology and telecommunications employers and employees suggest that the respondents are significantly challenged in how they capture their fair share of talent in the near term,” said Jeffrey Alderton, principal and national industry leader with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Human Capital service area. “Despite our experience in seeing organizations wanting to shift focus on long term retention strategies, the urgency of ‘getting talent in the door’ versus showcasing career scenarios to new recruits is causing some disconnection whereby companies still view financial incentives as a quick fix.”

The survey also found that creative and other critical talent that generates greater-than-average value for customers and shareholders is most difficult to attract, and the problem is expected to increase over the next three to five years.

“A company’s ability to recruit and manage talent has become the bellwether for the overall health and longevity of the organization,” said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and national managing partner for Deloitte LLP’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications group.  “Technology and telecommunications companies need to identify which job segments have the greatest impact on their financial success, and then actively focus their talent management activities in those critical areas.”

Deloitte surveyed more than 150 technology and telecommunications companies in North America to understand their most significant talent issues and what they are doing to address them.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Two-thirds of respondents expect their workforce to grow by at least 6 percent over the next 12 months, and only 6 percent expect their workforce to shrink.
• Technology and telecommunications companies surveyed are generally less worried than companies in other industries about a prolonged global labor crisis. This may be due to the fact that technology and telecommunications companies are considered “sexy” and, therefore, have an easier time attracting talent. It may also be attributable to their younger workforces, which are less affected by Baby Boomer retirements.
• Respondents that fail to address their talent management challenges over the next three years will feel the pain where it really hurts: in limited growth, increased time to market, reduced innovation, damage to customer relationships, and more.
• Forty-four percent of respondents have either not defined a list of critical skills for future growth or are in need of updating their list to meet current needs.
• Roughly a third of respondents regularly discuss the talent shortage at board meetings, while another third discuss it once or twice a year. Moreover, nearly half of the surveyed companies have started to conduct workforce planning to identify critical skills and talent gaps.

The full report can be found at www.deloitte.com/us/techtalent.

Respondents came from technology and telecommunications companies across North America. The industry breakdown is as follows: 24 percent software, 21 percent telecommunications/ wireless, 16 percent technology services, 16 percent technology hardware, 1 percent life sciences/bio-technology and 22 percent other related industries.

About Deloitte
As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte LLP.  Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.