The Developer Hiring Landscape US Insight

Transcription

1 The Developer Hiring Landscape Insight

2 2 Introduction Our goal with Stack Overflow Careers is to build a system where developers can get jobs that really match their hearts a Joel Spolsky CEO & Co-founder Stack Exchange Key Findings We re fortunate in having built access to the world s largest community of developers. Each year the community generously gives its time to help us put together an annual survey, providing us with insight into the global technical recruitment marketplace. This year 26,086 developers from 157 countries participated in the survey. We believe that this incredible pool of talent provides a unique insight into the coding industry. Code is everywhere, and just about every coder uses Stack Overflow. Software is taking over the world and in the, on both coasts (and in several key cities in the middle!), the search for developer talent has never been greater or more expensive. We re privileged to be a community that s willing and qualified to speak for developers in the and across the globe. 42% of developers don t have a formal education 59% of developers are open to new job opportunities Programming is still a male-dominated industry, but women, especially younger women, are catching up

3 3 Developer Insights companies are sucking up developer talent as quickly as universities churn out qualified graduates. 35.2% of developers have more than 10 years experience. 34.5% are full-stack developers and Javascript and SQL remain the most commonly used languages. 38.3% of developers have had no formal related qualifications and a further 19.8% have taken online courses. 31% of developers work remotely all or some of the time and 32.3% have been in their current jobs for less than 12 months. The developer is slightly older than the global average at 31.6 years old compared with a global average of 28. The demand for coding talent in the means that developers command an annual average salary of $89,631, making them significantly more expensive to hire than their counterparts anywhere else in the world. A lucky 6.3% earn more than $160,000 per year. Coding is still a male-dominated pursuit, but 4.7% of developers surveyed in the are female and there are encouraging signs that more women are choosing a career in the industry. Average age Male Female Global 31.6 years old 28 years old Average salary Australia UK Canada $89,631 $76,904 $68,860 $68,262

4 4 Programming is an emerging field Software is a young man s (and woman s) game. Our survey shows that developers are on average 28 years old, although they are slightly older in the where the average age is 31.6 years. This isn t surprising as programming is still an emerging field in so many ways and should in no way be seen by those of slightly more advanced years as a barrier to entering the industry. UK Age < >60

5 5 Women on the rise Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of our global survey is the rise of the female developer: Globally 16% of female developers have less than 1 year IT / programming experience vs. 6% of males. In the women with less than 1 year s experience is 10% and about half of female developers are under the age of 30. In the, female developers are marginally less concerned about salary than their male equivalent but place significantly greater value on work/life balance. Additionally, female developers in the are less likely to be self-taught and more likely to have participated in an online course or intensive coding boot camp a trend that is matched in other countries and regions around the world. Key Findings In India, 15% of developers are female compared with just 5% in the and 2.2% in Sweden. Globally, two-thirds of female developers have less than five years IT / programming experience while just half of males have less than 5 years experience. This is perhaps an indication that more women are joining the global development community, especially in developing economies, and we re confident that this trend is going to continue. 15% India 50.9% 40.6% 5% 10.1% 3.7% Female <1 experience Male <1 experience Female <5 experience Male <5 experience 2.2% Sweden

6 6 Traditional education background is decreasing Employers who insist on demanding extensive academic qualifications from their candidates are missing out. This rigid approach to recruitment removes almost half of the applicant pool (globally and in the ) without good cause. Front-end web developers are most likely to be self-taught. Younger developers take online classes, while older developers are far more likely to have enrolled in a code boot camp or professional certification program. Fact: In the 38.31% of respondents have no related academic qualification for being a developer. Bachelor of Science in Computer Science 41.08% Industry certification program 4.80% (or related field) 37.70% 6.13% No formal training; I m self-taught 38.31% Other 4.54% 41.82% 4.26% On-the-job training 37.96% Intensive code boot camp or night 4.42% 36.74% school 3.45% Some college coursework in Computer 22.15% PhD in Computer Science (or related 1.75% Science (or related field) but no degree 16.66% field) 2.15% Online class (ie. Coursera, Codecademy, 19.81% Mentorship program (ie. Flatiron 0.87% Khan Academy, etc.) 17.76% School, GDI, etc.) 1.04% Masters Degree in Computer Science (or 11.60% related field) 18.43% Global

7 7 Most popular industry per country or region Globally the most popular industries are software and web services and in the, finance / banking, consulting, media and entertainment also featuring prominently. The data also indicates that as economies mature, developers are increasingly required in less traditional industries. This is because software is integral to the operation of other sectors. In the for example, the lowest percentage (18%) actually work on software products, with the remainder of the developer workforce split broadly amongst a wide range of other industries. </> www. </> $ Software Products Internet Finance Consulting Global 25% Global 17% Global 8% Global 7% Eastern Europe 29% Eastern Europe 21% Canada 10% Western Europe 9% Canada 24% Western Europe 17% Eastern Europe 9% United States 7% Western Europe 20% Canada 14% United States 8% Canada 6% United States 18% United States 14% Western Europe 7% Eastern Europe 3%

8 8 Most popular skillsets The population of full-stack developers is growing, perhaps highlighting the requirement for developers to offer a wider range of skill sets to satisfy the demands of the marketplace. Additionally, it could simply be the case that developers are learning new skills as they develop their careers in order to undertake their own personal projects. Full-stack web developer Desktop developer Back-end web developer Front-end web developer % 31.17% 34.5% 11% 9.51% 8.2% 7.55% 7.33% 7.8% 5.39% 4.47% 5.46%

9 9 Highest paid languages by technology Employers are offering the highest salaries to developers with experience of using niche or emerging technologies. A shortage of certain skills in the workforce is one factor that leads companies to pay a premium when hiring for a specific skillset. But there is probably more at play and it could be the case that well-paid developers have the luxury of experimenting with new technologies. Fact: Ruby is the top paying language by average salary in Western Europe, but it s #7 in the. Western Europe Objective-C $98,828 Ruby $90,536 $58,688 $60,000 Node.js $96,539 JavaScript $90,259 $59,227 $55,425 C# $94,280 Java $89,054 $59,978 $53,404 C++ $91,739 Python $88,966 $56,680 $56,192 SQL $91,431 PHP $77,322 $55,740 $46,060 C $91,264 $55,259

10 10 The hiring landscape The great news from this global survey is that good developers are rarely going to be without work. Programming skills are in high demand with 81% of survey respondents who are also in the workforce saying they re employed full-time, with 5% employed part-time and 11% employed as a freelance or contract worker. That leaves only 2% of developers who identify themselves as unemployed. In the the numbers vary slightly; 71.8% of survey respondents who are also in the workforce say they are employed, only 2.9% work part-time and 6.85% are freelancers or contractors. This leaves just under 3% who identify themselves as unemployed. 10% So, the labor market may be tight for talent but that doesn t mean it s not liquid. Globally 69% of software developers would consider moving jobs if the right opportunity came up. 10% of developers said they are actively looking for a new job and 59% are open to new job opportunities. In the, 55% said they would consider moving jobs and 10.1% said they were actively looking. That implies that there are significant numbers of candidates waiting to be found and that perhaps employers are just not looking in the right places. of developers said they are actively looking for a new job Employment 55% Full time Freelance / contract Unemployed Part time of software developers would consider moving jobs Employment landscape 65% of developers are open to new job opportunities

11 11 How to contact developers Developers may not necessarily speak your language or use your preferred means of communication. A personalized approach is a pre-requisite for successful engagement. In the, 50% of developers are contacted at least once a week by recruiters and over half said they wish recruiters would contact them less indicating that the market for developer talent in the is not performing efficiently. is the top preferred means of communication for developers, with 65% of respondents globally saying is a great way to hear about new job opportunities. That figure drops to 60.6% in the where 44.2% of developers think Stack Overflow Careers messages are also great. Great Tolerate Hate I don t have an account Global Stack Overflow Careers Message Global LinkedIn InMail Global Phone Call Global Twitter Global Facebook Global

12 12 Developers are struggling to find jobs that are interesting For developers, finding a job is relatively easy, given the state of the marketplace. The most challenging aspect of the job search is finding a job that seems interesting and suits their lifestyle preferences. In the 48% of developers say searching for a job that sounded interesting was their biggest challenge when searching for a new role. Most developer jobs are interesting, but they re not described that way. To make your job listing interesting, emphasise your product. 61.8% of developers say product details are among the most important aspect of a new job opportunity, compared to only 53.9% who ranked salary among their first considerations. Office location and tech stack also ranked highly. Globally, 59% of developers say they most want to know about compensation when first hearing about a job opportunity, compared with 53.9% in the. They want to know that the job role matches their skillsets and salary expectations. Although it is a contributing factor, it doesn t mean it is the deciding factor. 61.8% 39% 53.9% of developers say product details are the most important aspect of a new job of developers prioritize an interesting tech stack of developers say they most want to know about compensation when first hearing about a job opportunity

13 13 How recruiters can improve their interview process Talent scouting is broken. Hiring managers struggle to judge top talent by a resume because of one straightforward fact. Developers tend to write in code and are most content sitting facing a laptop screen rather than a panel of HR executives. That can make the interview process nerve-wracking for both parties. Employers shouldn t look for the candidate that performs best in a formal interview setting, but one who will perform the best in a coding work environment. Employers need to include their developer teams in the hiring process so that the right skills can be brought to light and ultimately so the right candidate is hired for the job. Simulate the work experience. It ll help you know if a developer is the right fit, and he/she will feel more comfortable and be more receptive should you offer a job. 53.1% 31% 37.8% 33.8% of developers say companies can improve the interview of developers say they want to be shown the exact space want better preparation. They want to know who want to see more live code process by introducing them where they will work they ll be speaking to and to the team what is on the agenda

14 14 Summary / How we can help Stack Overflow Careers enables employers to engage with the largest community of developers in the world. You can take advantage of our unique platform to tell potential recruits all about your company, its ethos, its workforce and all the other aspects that make working for you the best decision a potential employee has ever made. We provide - employers with an honest, transparent, unique, empowering, and friendly service and provide 360 support that makes finding your next star employee as easy as possible. Become a part of our community and find the developer talent that you need. For more information contact careers@stackoverflow.com or visit careers.stackoverflow.com.

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