About Frits Scholte
Frits Scholte, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Sales at ManpowerGroup, has been cited in discussions about the tech labor market. In September 2022, he commented on the normalization of hiring after the pandemic, stating that "the boom that we saw during the pandemic is normalizing and hence we don't need as many workers or hiring at the same pace, but the demand for workers in the tech sector remains extremely strong really across the board." He noted that some tech workers and bankers had previously "chased better returns, better compensation in the technology sector," but that layoffs in areas like crypto and social media would not lead to a surplus of unemployed tech talent.
Scholte described the trend of digital transformation as "an enduring long-term trend" and said that organizations are seeking to enhance their technology capabilities. He predicted that most displaced tech workers would be "immediately soaked up by the market" due to strong demand for roles such as project managers, cybersecurity experts, software developers, and AI specialists. He added that it would be "a question of them choosing where they want to go because the market is still very strong."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Frits Scholte's recent appearances.
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Transcript (1 segments)
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Frits Scholte0:00
I think overall what's very clear is that the trend for increased digital transformation in all companies, accelerated by the experience we had during the pandemic, is very clear. And I think that's an enduring long-term trend. What we can't forget when we read the headlines about tech companies is the immense surge in demand they experienced during the pandemic, when we all were working from home for the first time at an extended period. We were buying things over the net and over the web. So all of these business models had a huge spike, and in my mind they're now coming back to trend after that. So that's why it's not surprising to me that they will be the first ones that are announcing the boom we saw during the pandemic is normalizing, and hence we don't need as many workers or hiring at the same pace. But the demand for workers in the tech sector remains extremely strong, really across the board. We think it's in a very fluid market. In recent years, some of the tech workers or bankers that typically within the finance industry have chased better compensation in the technology sector. But as we talk about the layoffs now, whether it's from the crypto space or social media, where do those tech jobs go to? Well, there is plenty of demand really across the board: project manager, cyber security, software developers, experts in AI. All organizations are looking to enhance their technology capabilities to help their business models, their clients, all of the values that they intend to drive with greater access to data. So in my view, at this stage, most of that talent will be immediately soaked up by the market. And I don't think we'll see a glut of people with specific tech skills that are suddenly unemployed and don't know where to go. It's going to be a question of them choosing where they want to go, because the market is still very strong.
