Over the past couple of years, businesses have witnessed software engineering positions remaining unfilled for months because of the growing talent shortage. According to US Labor statistics, this global talent shortage amounts to 40 million vacant positions worldwide. Expectations are that by 2030, this number will rise to 85.2 million.
Due to the lack of skilled workers, companies worldwide may face up to $8.4 trillion in potential revenue loss.
Businesses have subjected themselves to a fierce bidding war sourcing skilled and experienced software engineering professionals. McKinsey’s Global Survey reflects that 87 percent of companies have already started experiencing a talent shortage or expect to face one soon.
In this post, Nate Nead, CEO of DEV.co and SEO.co., discusses the root causes of this global software engineering talent shortage and the steps businesses can take to navigate this situation.
Why businesses are experiencing a software engineering talent crunch globally?
Increase in demand
The demand for skilled software engineering professionals has steadily increased over the past few years. Though they’ve been in high demand for quite some time, the rise in usage of digital technologies during the pandemic pushed businesses to source qualified software engineering talent desperately.
Businesses are actively looking for experts skilled in advanced technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to develop custom solutions.
Notable Credentials
Big companies prefer software engineering experts who have robust credentials to prove their level of expertise. Therefore, another major cause of this talent shortage is that businesses don’t always consider self-taught software developers.
Staying up-to-date
New coding languages are constantly under development, and existing languages are evolving every single day. With new technologies changing the tide frequently, even experienced software engineering professionals struggle to keep up with relevant changes.
Self-employment
Another primary reason for software engineering talent shortage is developers choosing to work for themselves.
With the effort that goes into mastering the skills to become a software engineering expert, developers often choose to implement their knowledge to develop groundbreaking technologies for themselves instead of working for an organization.
Steps enterprises can take to tackle the software engineering talent shortage situation.
Education
Getting into the software engineering niche is difficult. Therefore, it’s essential to encourage people to study programming and software development at a younger age.
Additionally, aspiring coders need to be educated in non-technical skills that the industry currently values and expects.
Rethink hiring criteria
Businesses shouldn’t simply focus on developers with shiny resumes. This bar for entry may cause enterprises to lose out on software engineering talents that could have been an enormous asset to their company.
If you look for skilled developers via Turing, you can consider additional factors, including a developer’s test scores for different languages. You can also view their performance during live coding challenges instead of simply relying on namesake badges of expertise.
Practical tips for enterprises actively looking to hire software engineering professionals.
Willingness to learn
Find developers who are flexible enough to want to learn new technologies. These software engineers make for excellent long-term hires since they’re willing to master new skills while working with your business.
Hiring strategy
Businesses all over the world are fighting tooth and nail to source and hire qualified engineers.
Looking for formal educational background or work experience at big companies is not the only factor you should consider to sort through developers. Instead, develop a competitive hiring strategy to attract and retain top talent.
Summary
A recent study by Gartner states that CEOs worldwide consider talent shortage to be the most significant risk factor for their business.
With companies worldwide focusing on digital transformation, it’s not surprising that businesses of all sizes are locked in a heated battle to attract, hire, and retain developers.
You can implement these strategies to help your company gain a competitive edge while efficiently weathering the talent shortage storm.
Turing is a deep jobs platform that allows companies to recruit skilled and experienced remote software developers. You can take advantage of Turing’s tried-and-tested vetting process to have your pick of qualified software developers.
You’ll have access to a talent pool of the top 1% of 1M talented and experienced developers with strong technical and communication skills who can work according to your requirements.
Tell us the skills you need and we'll find the best developer for you in days, not weeks.
Jaya is a copywriter & content writer & has worked for businesses in over 27 different niches. When she’s not writing, she can be found obsessing over a book.
