One of the U.K.'s fastest-growing recruiting and staffing firms has opened its first office outside of Europe in Miami, Fl. The move by London and Berlin-based develop will enable the company to seize the opportunities being created by the rapidly growing tech scene and explosive demand for talent across the Miami region.
The move comes on the back of significant growth for the business across Europe's biggest tech hubs of London and Berlin over the last 12 months - the second and fourth fastest-growing tech hubs in the world, respectively.
Joey Tait, Managing Director at develop, said of the launch: "Miami has long drawn investors and tech founders, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace at which this is taking place.
"This has not only resulted in a wave of fast-growing, innovative and exciting companies relocating and establishing their new headquarters here, it has also attracted a wealth of talent too."
Report finds Miami-based software engineers are frustrated at poor service from existing recruiting firms; thereby, causing frustration among job seekers and lost career opportunities:
In anticipation of their first entry into the US market, develop conducted an extensive market research project that analyzed the state of the software engineering market in Miami - the results of which reconfirmed the company's belief in the opportunity open to them by establishing a base in the city.
Accordingly, 88% of software engineers in Miami and the wider city area are open to considering new opportunities, but their experience of working with headhunters to date has been a poor one.
As many as 95% of Miami's software engineers with less than three years experience in the field report having had a negative experience with a headhunter - 44% said this has happened more than once. This number dips slightly for those with four or more years' experience, but only marginally (81%).
The biggest complaints reported by software engineers at all levels include taking too long to both find a suitable role and make the placement (42.5%), a lack of industry knowledge among the headhunters themselves (36%) and a low level of knowledge about the roles they are recruiting for (36%).
This is not isolated to candidates only. develop's research also showed that 83% of business leaders and senior management who are responsible for hiring software engineers for their organizations have also had a bad experience when working with headhunters.
"The results of our research are not intended to paint a gloomy picture as to the state of headhunting within the tech sector in Miami," Joey explained.
"Rather, we believe this is an opportunity to raise the standards of how software engineer resourcing is conducted by bringing our unique brand of recruitment to the market in Miami.
"Key to this is the fact that all our consultants immerse themselves in their markets by learning to code. They know what makes a great Java or JavaScript developer because they are one themselves. This, we believe, gives develop an edge over all other technical headhunting consultancies in the area.
"This has been a vital ingredient of our success over the last 12 months. Having also introduced technical testing within our recruitment process, a large proportion of the clients we have worked with in Germany, for example, have seen their average time-to-hire reduced by as much as 50%. This can be the difference between business-critical projects being completed on time and within budget - or not."
Heading up the Miami office will be seasoned headhunters from the UK Will Youle and Zach Puzey, and they will initially be supported by a newly recruited team of graduates.
Joey added: "It is important for us to onboard the next generation of technical headhunters. That is why we are keen to tap into the rich talent networks of the University of Miami and Florida International University and recruit the best graduates.
"We believe they can help us to successfully establish ourselves in the city, and to help its emergence as a world-leading tech hub."
