Dive Brief:

• General Electric (GE) is turning 125 years old and is evolving into what it's calling a 'digital industrial' company. According to the SHRM blog, GE is also busy at work recruiting the top tech talent in the market to make the transformation possible.
• Recent newsworthy hires include Patrick Franklin, former Google vice president of engineering; Amit Phadnis, formerly of Cisco Systems; Steven Martin, formerly of Microsoft Azure; and Darren Haas, co-founder of Siri. 
• Poaching high-level tech talent is nothing new, as SHRM reported last year nearly 27% of companies saw an increase in this and accept it as a common recruitment practice.   

Dive Insight:

Earlier in March, we reported on the heavy recruitment happening at GE, as a result of their effort to modernize and expand. The changes that are happening within the technology fields in 2017 pose challenges for recruiters already scrambling for enough talent. Therefore, it's not entirely surprising that GE would be looking to attract those who already have proven track records with other tech giants to build it's 'dream team' of leadership.

This has gone on for as long as tech companies have been in existence. In an agile world, the need for quick placement of those with the right skill sets is vital. At the same time, it gives other tech talent a chance to move up and learn from predecessors, so it's not a negative aspect.