Scaling Your Tech Team in a Skills Shortage: 3 Steps

Scaling Your Tech Team in a Skills Shortage: 3 Steps to Weather the Storm

Thomas Burt • June 30, 2025

Peoplebank employees smiling at a laptop in a modern office

Australia’s tech sector continues to face crucial skill shortages, particularly in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure.

For organisations trying to scale quickly, launch new products or undergo digital transformation the talent gap can feel like a bottleneck (or at least a very frustrating aspect of business operations).

While none of us can change market realities, it is possible to grow effectively without overextending or overworking your existing staff. With a forward thinking 3-phase approach to scale your tech team, you can create a far more sustainable internal talent pool, even in a talent-tight market.

1. Prioritise Critical Roles

Begin by clearly identifying the roles that are essential to progress now — not every hire needs to happen at once. This phase should focus on:

High-impact positions (e.g., Lead Developer, Cloud Engineer, Product Owner)
Contractors or consultants for immediate delivery
Partnering with a specialist recruiter to fast-track access to talent

It can also be helpful to use workforce planning tools to map existing capability against business demand, identifying real skill gaps vs. nice-to-haves in real-time.

2. Supplement with Flexible Talent

Once the foundation is stable, look at short-term or contingent hires to expand capacity without permanent headcount pressure.

Contracting is especially useful for:

Agile product teams
Time-sensitive projects
Specialist skills (e.g., penetration testing, DevOps automation)

Contract-to-permanent is also a great way to trial cultural fit and minimise long-term risk. Building a team that mesh well together avoids interpersonal issues impacting retention, a key point for all teams, but especially when addressing crucial and finite talent pools.

3. Building a Sustainable Talent Pipeline

With your core needs covered you can shift focus to building a sustainable team through:

Junior hires who receive structured pathways to professional growth and skill development
Diversity recruitment to reach new talent pools
Uplift employer branding and employee benefits to passively attract candidates over time

While there is a shortage of many tech skills businesses need now, there is a deluge of talented people willing to learn, with forward thinking and the right support many gaps can be filled.

Skills shortages will continue but with the right plan, your team doesn’t have to stall (or burnout trying to fill gaps).

If you need help finding the right talent for whatever phase of recruitment you are in, get in contact with one of our highly skilled Account Managers here.

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How Australians move between jobs

By Aniela R • August 3, 2026

New data reveals how Australians move between jobs and what it means for employers and job seekers Australia's workforce is more dynamic than many people realise. New research from Jobs and Skills Australia highlights how workers move between occupations and industries throughout their careers, providing valuable insights for employers, recruiters and professionals planning their next career move. According to JSA's newly released Occupation Mobility Interactive Tool, career pathways are often far more interconnected than traditional job titles suggest. Careers are no longer linear One of the key findings from the report is that occupations tend to form clusters, with workers moving between roles that share similar skills and experience requirements. Rather than following a single, predictable career path, many Australians build careers through a series of lateral moves, stepping stones and transferable skill opportunities. For example, Australia's most common occupation, Sales Assistant (General), acts as a significant gateway role. Workers frequently transition into related customer service positions, while others leverage their experience to move into higher-skilled roles such as retail management, administration and clerical positions. The research identifies eight broad occupational mobility clusters across the labour market, including: Social, Education and Service Health Science and Research Engineering and ICT Other specialised occupational groups These clusters demonstrate that many careers are connected through transferable skills, creating opportunities for workers to pivot into new occupations without starting from scratch. Careers are like LEGO creations. Even when you dismantle one model, the individual blocks remain valuable and can be reassembled into something entirely new. Transferable skills are the pieces that make career pivots possible.