Asavie is a great example of a homegrown company making good. A year ago, the internet of things (IoT) connectivity company had just 40 members of staff on the books. Now, there are 90, and that’s set to grow.
Asavie recently announced its intentions to hire across 106 new roles over the coming year. But, with the ever-increasing competition in tech recruitment, where will the people come from to fill those roles?
According to Paul Regan, who is responsible for organisational capability and people at Asavie, it’s now necessary to use a mix of traditional sources and outside-the-box thinking when it comes to recruitment.
The company looks to local universities, local authorities and the Government-supported Fastrack to IT (FIT) programme. It even looks outside of Ireland, and places a big focus on helping overseas talent transition to living and working here.
That has resulted in an incredibly diverse staff, spanning multiple nationalities, which can be a draw for other candidates.
“One of the things that gives us an advantage – and it is an advantage in the area – is to have many different backgrounds [workng here],” says Regan. “A lot of viewpoints coming through; a lot of cultures.”
Getting the staff is one thing, though, and keeping them completely another – something which Regan readily acknowledges.
“There’s greater mobility in the workforce,” he says. “There are greater opportunities coming on stream, especially in the STEM industry at the moment.”
Asavie is by no means struggling to retain staff, though. Speaking to us early last month, Asavie’s Mark Mullane mentioned that the company’s engineering department has a staff turnover rate of zero.
Regan offered a possible explanation for that, saying: “Part of that is ensuring that we have a very clear career path defined for people when they come [to work for us]. We have continuous development. We have very strong development programmes for our people.”
But another draw could just be the industry Asavie operates in.
“The big thing with a company like Asavie is we’re coming from a very solid foundation,” says Regan. “As the IoT sector grows, people will have that opportunity to grow with it.”
To learn more about working at Asavie, watch Regan’s full interview:
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