Businesses in the technology sector have identified overcoming the talent crunch and supply chain upheaval as the two big priorities for the year ahead, according to a report by EY.

It found that increased volatility rising out of the evolving Covid-19 pandemic has led to a reshuffling of priorities for the industry, with the need to attract and retain a motivated workforce – up from fourth on the list from last year’s edition of the report, Top 10 opportunities for technology companies.

Tech companies are exploring how best to introduce a staged return to the office, with 9 out of 10 employees indicating that they are prepared to resign if they are not offered flexibility in where and when they work. At the same time, demand for engineers and salespeople is growing exponentially for those investing in growth. Barak Ravid, EY global TMT strategy and transactions leader, said: “The pandemic has challenged tech employers to re-examinine the entire value-proposition for talent. In order to build a motivated workforce, employers must prioritize finding ways to solve the puzzle of optimizing rewards, flexibility and experience, to create a package that cultivates the best talent while managing the associated costs.”

UK supply chains came under extreme pressure from market volatility, due to the twin factors of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, among other market-defining events. For the tech industry, two major bottlenecks have been around logistics and the availability of components and the report reflects this, ranking the need to de-risk the supply chain in order to secure business continuity in third place for the second consecutive year.

Ravid added: “Tech companies need to holistically review their entire supply chain. Different risk profiles in the chain require different policies around inventories and sourcing contracts. Logistics issues could lead to changes in preferred manufacturing and distribution footprints. Real-time visibility will help mitigate problems at an early stage, while new technologies such as digital twins and 3D printing could reduce the degree of disruption.”

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