For higher education leaders, talent loss is a constant concern. Often, especially in today’s economy, individuals will leave the higher education sector altogether for more lucrative and flexible professions. This is particularly true for staff with IT or other technical skills. Given the perpetual state of flux that is today’s higher education environment, what can institutional leaders do to stop or at least mitigate the impact of staff exodus?
The talent loss anxiety was highlighted in the 2026 Survey of Campus Chief Information/Technology Officers by Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research. According to the report, 62 percent of CTOs are concerned about their inability to recruit or retain qualified IT talent at their institution. If colleges and universities are to grow and support modern technologies like AI as well as robust cybersecurity initiatives designed to keep sensitive information safe and operations running, campus leaders need to address talent departure head-on.
What's Behind the Talent Departure?
While there are myriad reasons individuals wish to leave the higher ed sector for other industries, there are a few standout common denominators. Funding cuts, enrollment slumps, legislative restrictions, and political pressures are frequent drivers for administrative departures, as they inhibit an institution’s ability to invest in growth or innovation strategies. The same reasons impact technical and IT teams, but one of the biggest contributors is burnout. In many cases, IT staff are simply asked to do too much with too little. The result is too much stress, poor work-life balances, and not enough reward.
According to the IHE survey, roughly 67 percent of CTOs said they find it difficult to hire IT staff, and 38 percent said they struggle to retain the talent they already have. The report also found that only 27 percent of respondents are increasing compensation for personnel, underscoring that budgets and financial constraints are limiting options.
If institutions are to retain critical IT roles so they can modernize operations, systems, and experiences, they need to either support their existing staff or find a way to plug the gap.
Invest in Development
Professional development is often cited as a primary enabler of keeping staff engaged and retained in the workplace. In a 2025 survey of more than 3,700 higher education employees, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that 39 percent of staff who said they were seeking new jobs were doing so because of an opportunity for promotion elsewhere. Another 32 percent of respondents said they were looking for a reduction in job-related stress.
This trend is not new. In a 2022 survey of more than 1,500 HR professionals, the Society for Human Resource Management Research Institute found that the second-highest reason for turnover, behind compensation, was the lack of career development and advancement.
These findings suggest that CTOs and other campus leaders may be able to address, at least partially, concerns about talent loss by investing in workforce or career development programs that enable staff to hone or acquire new skills that can support their personal or professional growth. But training and development programs also work on another level: succession planning.
Talent loss is somewhat inevitable in every industry. As a result, CTOs need to have a plan when—not if—it happens to them. By providing staff access to training and development programs, institutions can have built-in redundancy plans in case of sudden departures. Rather than relying solely on one individual’s tenured experience or in-depth product knowledge to keep systems running, colleges can have backup staff to ensure continuous operations. According to the IHE survey, 46 percent of CTOs are developing internal training and career pathways.
Still, concerns over talent retention are real, and institutions with fewer resources may not be able to invest in robust training programs to ensure all teams are always staffed fully.
Get Professional Support
While promoting within and building a succession plan can help institutions prepare for unexpected talent loss, sometimes the only way to truly support scalability and technology infrastructure is through partnership. The IHE survey underscored this trend, noting that 60 percent of CTOs are using contractors or managed service providers to address talent needs. Roughly 41 percent are also outsourcing specific IT functions, while 13 percent are partnering with other institutions to share specialized expertise.
By working with a trusted partner, whether that is an experienced higher education solution provider or a peer institution, colleges and universities can expand their capabilities and network to cover critical roles that power campus operations.
As the political, economical, and technological landscapes continue to apply pressure to institutions, CTOs and other campus leaders must have plans in place to plug the gaps caused by talent loss. While certain technologies can automate operations and bypass traditionally manual processes, there will always be a need for human involvement. If colleges and universities do not have personnel contingencies or fail to empower their internal teams with either development or supplementary support, they may not be able to stop the bleeding if an exodus does occur.
