By Chelsea Babin

For years there have been rumblings about the IT talent market being too shallow for everyone’s growing IT talent needs but now it’s hitting businesses harder than ever. One great solution to this issue, especially if the market you’re in is as competitive when it comes to IT talent as DFW is, is to offer paid relocation and paid interview travel. Here’s four reasons why offering these benefits is your best options.

1. Expand Your Options: When you don’t offer paid interview travel or paid relocation you’re limiting your IT talent options to the small pool available in DFW. But, as soon as you offer these benefits, you’ll expand that field exponentially and there’s an increased chance of you finding the perfect person for the job!

2. They Know You’ll Invest in Them: When you offer these benefits to potential employees from other areas they’ll know that you’re the kind of company that invests in their employees before they ever step foot in their first in person interview. With so many options available to them, IT professionals are looking to join companies that will invest in them and, with these benefits, you’re showing your willingness to do just that from the start!

3. End Your Job Search Quickly: Maybe the IT professional you’re looking for isn’t in DFW. You’ll never really know that unless you offer benefits that open up all of your options in every American city. When you have all of your options available to you from the get go, your job search will go a lot smoother and faster which will save your company heaps of money. The amount of money it takes to have a necessary IT position vacant for the typically long IT talent searches of 2016 far outweighs the amount of money it takes to offer paid interview travel and paid relocation.

4. An Edge Over Competitors: Whether the IT professional you’re after has another job offer or they’re simply weighing your job offer against their current job, you’ll tip the scales in your favor with paid relocation. When you offer that and another company doesn’t, they’re more likely to take your offer because it’s like getting an immediate bonus that the other company isn’t offering. And, when they’re weighing it against keeping their current job, any additional benefits are often considered an untapped goldmine in an IT professional’s eyes and who can resist the shine and allure of gold?

If you want a shorter, less expensive job search process with more options where you ensure that your company has an edge over any competing offers or current jobs, you need to start offering paid relocation and paid interview travel. This small investment can save you a lot of money by shortening your search for new employees and showing the people that you hire that you’re willing to invest in them from the get go which often leads to lower turnover rates.