The cost of living in urban areas is proving a significant drain on the efforts of companies to attract the talent they need.  That was the message from a new report from engineering recruitment company Terminal.

The report found that the United States was losing its pre-eminence as a tech location, in large part because of the cost of living in the major tech hubs.  This results in nearly 40% of Canadian and Mexican engineers preferring not to move to the US for work, even if they were offered a significant salary increase.

The authors believe this will prompt a rethink about the way engineers are recruited globally.  There is also a clear need to improve the recruitment process, with 90% of engineers highlighting various issues with it, ranging from disorganization to a lack of knowledge among interviewers.

Broken recruitment

The survey also revealed a number of challenges engineers faced in terms of recruitment itself, not least of which was the continued infatuation with degrees as a measure of capability.  It’s a metric the candidates thought ill matched their talent and ability, with nearly 75% self-taught.

Working remotely is an obvious solution to the cost-of-living situation, and this was strongly sought after by candidates.  Of those that did work remotely, over half worked from home, with the majority of the remainder working in a satellite office rather than a WeWork or coffee shop.

Working remotely presented its own challenges, with around half of respondents missing the personal interactions, and a third not feeling a real part of the team.  There were also concerns around their lack of visibility and its impact on their career development.

“Tech companies can no longer ignore that the once-sacrosanct dream of moving to the US to lead the next generation of innovation is fading,” the researchers say. “Moreover, the tech talent shortage means it’s harder to innovate and makes life harder on engineers who are already in the trenches. US tech companies seeking to scale their business must adjust their strategy and find creative ways to attract and keep global talent no matter where they live.”