Demand for Developer Talent Is Exploding: What You Need to Know

How Can HR Departments Find the Talent They Need?

There is a developer shortage and that means new strategies are needed to acquire and retain these and other skilled workers. This is not just about offering large salaries but also looking to find new areas where the company can reach the people it needs. Staying ahead means hiring those developers who have the ability to provide input in the new, emerging areas:

Artificial intelligence (AI) — this is going to surge forward in the coming years, it is predicted that the AI market will reach a value of around US$3.9trillion in the next 12 months.

Blockchain: Developers with blockchain experience are some of the most sought after professionals in the field.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) — these websites operate like native mobile apps and give great user experience. It is likely that these will take over from traditional websites and that developers in this field will see a greater demand for their skills.

Cybersecurity — this is already of huge concern and it likely to continue to be more and more so. With security becoming an automatic part of a software’s life cycle, these developers are increasingly sought-after.

Some of the Key Skills To Look For in the Coming Year:

Automation — this is set to increase, new approaches will develop all the time, needing skilled developers to debug and produce great code.

R — a programming language that has been collecting consumer data for over 10 years. This algorithm gives insights into patterns and trends and is likely to increase in popularity.

Java 8 — Java is a language that has been around for years, but Java 8 is the latest upgrade and is likely to be a talking point in the coming year.

Swift — Swift 4, an open source, modern language is likely to bring about the end of Objective C next year as far as iPhone development is concerned.

Python — still the top language for blockchain development.

Rust — Rust aims to replace C++ and C and is getting more popular. It is likely that this will continue to gain traction.

This is only a small and selective list. Changes are happening rapidly and developers must stay up to date in these skills. If you want to attract the skilled developers, you need to stay ahead take note of the following:

1. Staff retention — work towards making your workplace somewhere that people want to be. Trusting your teams, giving them space to learn, and providing a good work/life balance are good places to start.
2. Invest in training and career development — if you have skills gaps send staff for training. Get a good idea of your future needs by asking your team what skills they want to develop.
3. Become part of the developer community by supporting meetups. Get your name known, take your team along to events and they may well be able to get some talent interested in joining the team.
4. Change the hiring process by having your recruiters understand that their job is to sell the company and to do that they must understand the role of your developers. Keep the team up to date with current trends and developer needs.
5. Outsource — you can supplement your HR or developer team with staff augmentation. You need to look outside the old tried and tested way of doing things to get new talent onboard.

Future Developments:

Digital products are here to stay and the way that business hires talent will change.

Developers will be expected to be more agile, specializing in more than one language or technology.

There will be an increase in outsourcing overseas as companies go further afield to find the talent they need.

Developers are often open to new opportunities so retention will be a vital area of focus.

The demand for developers is likely to outstrip supply so it is essential to think ahead to the organization’s future needs, train existing staff, and look outside the company to bring in new skills as needed.

If you’re looking for a company that provides CRM Integrations Services and other software development services contact us.