Dive Brief:

• Employers across the U.S. posted more than 850,000 IT job openings during the first quarter of 2015. That’s 55 percent more than in Q1 2014, according to labor market analysis firm Burning Glass Technologies.

• Employers with IT jobs to fill may need to review their strategies and tactics to attract new talent, especially for positions that are difficult to fill.

• Getting the IT talent you need can require tradeoffs.

Dive Insight:

When it comes to attracting new talent, practices that worked a few years ago may no longer be relevant today. In a tight labor market, employers may need to reevaluate what they offer and make some tradeoffs in order to get the talent they need. For example, companies that require candidates to work on-site with no options for working remotely may want to re-consider. Companies may also want to review salaries, as today’s IT professional is expected to have a much broader array of skills than ever before, and those premium skills are often worth a premium salary.

Training can help, too. According to a 2015 CompTIA survey, 71% of employees rate professional development as an important value-add from their employer.