Companies pay more for ecommerce talent

More than 25% of ecommerce companies want to switch ecommerce platforms despite the costs, according to data in the 2023 Ecommerce Platforms Report, which covers the digital commerce technology trends for B2B and retail companies. This is a new report from Digital Commerce 360.

Digital technology companies from Amazon.com Inc. and Salesforce Inc. to SAP SE and BigCommerce have slashed their staffs as 2022 turned to 2023, and recruiters who specialized in ecommerce jobs say they’re as busy as ever matching employers with job candidates.e

Salaries for I.T. executives and technicians, meanwhile, are rising steadily, according to a recent survey from Janco Associates Inc. Average salaries this year are up year over year about 3% to $180,626 for I.T. executives at large enterprises, where I.T. staff salaries are up 5% to $82,636, Janco says. The same positions at mid-size companies rose about 9% to $159,925 and about 7% to  $83,296, respectively.

Business have driven up I.T. salaries as they they’ve increased investment in information technology in recent years, emphasizing ecommerce and mobile computing. And now senior technology executives are stepping up investments as well as online security to guard against cyber attacks and data breaches, Janco says.

The year ahead doesn’t promise to let up on the pressure on the personnel front. Among its Top 10 strategic predictions for 2023 and beyond, technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. says that 40% of business organizations will experience a loss of talent in their workforces by 2025 “due to labor volatility.”

Jerry Bernhart, principal and founder of Bernhart Associates Executive Search, specializes in helping employers hire executives to lead ecommerce and I.T. departments. He says he’s seen an increase in demand over the past two years from small- to mid-sized B2B employers — ranging in annual revenue from under $10 million to about $500 million — who are going more digital and need ecommerce business and technology executives who can help a traditional business launch or expand a digital commerce operation.

“A lot of what I’m doing is very transformational in nature,” he says. “I’m getting all these calls from more traditional businesses, a cement company, a chemical company, a company that manufactures food-processing equipment, a pest-control business manufacturer, and now I’m working with a company that provides first responder supplies and equipment.

“Digitization is an important mandate for them, and if they haven’t already moved in that direction, they’re certainly starting to do it now.”

Even with the increase in that activity from employers, however, Bernhart says he now gets about five inquiries from job candidates for every one employer looking to recruit.

Regarding candidates with the most in-demand skills, “the holy grail is a candidate with one bucket in business and the other bucket in technology and data and analytics,” Bernhart says.

commerce easier and more personalized for customers. Unlike personnel candidates more narrowly focused on either technology or marketing, “they don’t treat customers like an annoyance,” he says.

He adds that, while many online companies fail to offer enough personal service — “in B2B, you can’t get away with that. It’s all about the customer intimacy.”

Joiner notes that his recruiting reputation is built on how he’s brought his client companies ecommerce experts who bring value to their new employer far beyond his recruitment fee of 20% of their first-year base salary. So, he interviews job candidates to grasp the scope of their ability to understand what it takes to grow a business, like increasing customer retention rates.