As technology CFOs grapple with numerous challenges, including rising costs and the impact of AI, holding on to top talent is moving to the top of their priority list.
Generative AI is still in the spotlight, putting a premium on talent with the necessary skills to utilize such tools effectively. At the same time, inflation, a glut of technology layoffs, and other factors have both narrowed compensation growth and boosted attrition in the tech sector.
Creating “cultural stickiness” is emerging as a key way for finance chiefs to retain the talent they need, said Andrea Schulz, partner, audit services for Grant Thornton LLP and national managing principal of technology at Grant Thornton Advisors. In a recent survey of technology CFOs by Grant Thornton, 58% said “maintaining or improving organizational culture” was a top priority when it comes to human capital during the next 12 months.
“You don’t want that attrition with your top talent, and so we have a refresh of, ‘we can’t solve this churn issue with just writing checks to people and increasing salaries,’” Schulz said in an interview. “It’s really going to need to come from, ‘what are we differentiating ourselves through?’”
The question of culture
The talent challenge remains top-of-mind for finance chiefs, with 50% stating finding and retaining talent was a key priority, according to Grant Thornton’s survey.
However, today’s technology CFOs are dealing with a complicated talent environment. Even as demand for generative AI skill sets rose, salaries for IT workers grew by 1.2% last year, with nearly half of employed professionals in the tech sector stating they actively searched for new roles in 2024, Industry Dive sister publication CIO Dive reported, citing data from tech career site Dice.
With salaries stagnating as firms attempting to balance leaner budgets moving into 2025, the industry has moved away from a “growth at all costs” mandate to one focusing more on “efficient,” rather than hyper, growth, Schulz said. That shift has changed how many CFOs are thinking both about hiring, and about culture’s role in retaining talent.
“I think in the past, when CFOs were trying to figure out company culture, it was, ‘I’m going to write a check to create this fun company culture,’” Schulz said. Nowadays, that’s evolved into a question of investment — where finance chiefs are asking, “how am I actually engaging with my teams to develop them out and make sure that they’re getting a fulfilling experience, while achieving whatever the strategic priorities are for the company?” she said.
When it comes to technology talent especially, an essential part of creating that necessary “cultural stickiness” for CFOs is channeling one’s resources in the right place. That includes potentially crafting training programs to upskill employees on emerging tools like AI, or examining the needs of back-office teams, such as finance, which often run lean, Schulz said.
“Many of these companies grew extremely fast and neglected their back-office operations and so we have a lot of interest in finance transformation, right now, tech modernization,” Schulz said.
“I think what that ultimately means for CFOs trying to deliver that culture is an understanding of where maybe there should be more of that strategic investment in the organization to help with the load lifts that people experience,” she said.
The AI exception
Another trend impacting tech CFOs’ talent challenges is the continued development of generative AI tools — an area that is simultaneously contributing to technology layoffs, and rising demand for skilled tech workers.
When it comes to tech workers’ compensation, AI has proven the exception to the rule; those with AI skills on their resume saw an 18% increase in their salaries compared with those without, CIO Dive reported.
A company can strengthen its culture by creating programs that help employees hone their skills in AI and other areas, Schulz said.
Such efforts are a way of saying, “‘We’re getting in front of this wave, we’re training you up,’” Schulz said. “’You’re going to be more efficient at your job, and we’re giving you the skill set to advance.’”
Prioritizing talent retention should also be top-of-mind as the technology continues to see widespread changes, including layoffs. In the early weeks of 2025, larger firms such as Microsoft and Meta have announced layoffs, with Meta planning to cut 5% of its staff as it increases its investments in AI, according a CNBC report.
Forty-six percent of tech CFOs stated economic conditions could lead to layoffs in the next six months, Grant Thornton’s survey found.
However, Schulz expects something of a normalization when it comes to headcount in 2025, with layoffs shifting to more natural attrition — for instance, companies utilizing automation in more areas may choose not to replace a departing employee, she said.
As technology CFOs aim to identity the best return on investment for tools such as generative AI and automation, that will also start to influence, if not necessarily layoffs, “some role replacement, where people are becoming more efficient,” Schulz said. “And as natural attrition occurs, there might not be that desire to go put a requisition in the market for further headcount.”
