With IT positions becoming more important than ever before around the world, here is what software engineers should know about the 2022 market jobs.
Software engineers are key figures in today’s modern commerce environment. For this reason, over the past few years, there has been a massive increase in demand for software engineers who provide solutions to different software problems and needs.
Software programming and engineering roles aren’t new. Quite the contrary. It was an occupation that existed for a couple of decades now.
But, what’s changed is that home, and business computing came into existence, making the demand for knowledgeable individuals explode. And so it has over the past decade, showing no signs of slowing down.
But, the fast advancement in technology around the world isn’t the only reason why really talented software engineers are in high demand these days.
Keep reading below to find out more about the reasons why demand is high and how is that influencing the salaries expectations of software engineering specialists.
Pandemic-Driven Increase in Demand for Software Engineering Services
Technology was enjoying widespread adoption and popularity around the world even before the entire globe faced a pandemic. There’s no arguing with that. There were about 26.4 million software developers in the world in 2019.
But the truth is that the COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst driver in demand for technological solutions.
Data shows that at the beginning of 2020, software developer job postings dropped by 8%. But this was only a panic response that all industries saw at the beginning of the pandemic.
Yet, things quickly came around for the IT industry. In the US only, demand for software developer roles, including cloud engineers, grew by 25% from April-October 2019 to the same period in 2020.
That’s according to data from LinkedIn. In the UK, engineering roles saw a 45% increase in year-on-year demand for the same period of time. What does all this mean? It’s strong evidence that technology roles have proven to be pandemic-proof.
In the past, software engineering was only a high-in-demand career for those living in Silicon Valley. But not anymore.
Today, this profession is in great demand and well paid all across the world. Companies worldwide have understood that a more abrupt shift towards technology is imperative to be able to survive a pandemic that locks people inside their homes and prevents them from visiting local stores.
In other words, companies worldwide need software engineers to help them update their IT systems and ride the digital wave.
Software Engineering Services Can Easily Be Outsourced
What do increase demand and shortage of talent have in common?
Together they create a new trend: remote hiring. In the tech world, remote hiring is synonymous with outsourcing, which basically means obtaining service from an outsider supplier.
Very few industries have the advantage of being able to outsource some of their tasks. The tech industry is one of them.
According to data from CNBS News, as of November 2019, there were approximately 920,00 unfilled IT positions in the US only. But this isn’t a problem that only the US faces.
The entire world faces the challenge of needing too many jobs and not having enough workers to fill them.
This is where outsourcing shines. And this is where software engineers are among the lucky professionals who can provide outsourcing services.
Outsourcing software development and engineering services is a solution that works for worldwide companies in need of IT experts. It provides access to superior-tech talent worldwide, accesses to deep knowledge and experience, and removes the need for micromanagement.
For software engineers, the outsourcing trend is also very lucrative, providing them diversity in projects, access to the highest-paying global employers, and more job opportunities.
2021 Software Engineer Salary Expectations
In the light of all the things analyzed above, what does it all mean for software engineer salary expectations in 2021?
Since now, software engineering salaries have seen constant growth over the past few years. In 2020, average salaries for software engineers increased in most major tech hubs worldwide, including New York, London, and Toronto.
From now on, estimates suggest that, in the US, salaries are expected to stay flat and only grow a small amount as the year goes on. In the UK, salaries for software developer roles are expected to rise slightly.
But, with outsourcing software engineering services becoming a more popular trend by the day, aspiring well-paid software engineers should also show interest in how software engineer hourly rate options are a great solution to earn extra money.
Key Software Engineer Skills in High Demand
Last but not least, let’s see what employers are looking for in software engineers’ resumes.
Data from Indeed shows that modern programming languages such as Go, Rust, and Dart have seen a massive increase in popularity and demand.
Yet, expertise with established languages such as Java and JavaScript is still in high demand. In fact, Java is still the second most in-demand expertise employers ask for, following close behind SQL. Python programing language remains the third most popular.
As for back-end skills, containers and cloud are incredibly popular skills employers look for.
This isn’t a surprise since, over the past year, many companies worldwide have had to move online and face the challenge of increasing data amounts to store and protect.
Now, there’s more good news for software engineers regarding how to gain all these skills and list them in their resumes. According to PRNewswire, software engineers are increasingly self-taught.
More precisely, only 45% of experts actually have a computer science degree, while 24% are self-taught, and 10% of them have learned how to code using a Bootcamp program.
So, in 2022 and the years to come, aspiring software engineer experts who can’t afford or don’t want to get a university diploma still have plenty of job opportunities, even if they are self-taught.
Bottom line, software engineering is a very lucrative career option for 2021. This tech role is in high demand and provides a lot of opportunities for knowledgeable professionals.
Bio
Dariia Herasymova is a Recruitment Team Lead at Devox Software. She hires software development teams for startups, small businesses, and enterprises.
She carries out a full cycle of recruitment; creates job descriptions based on talks with clients, searches and interviews candidates, and onboards the newcomers.
Dariia knows how to build HR and recruitment processes from scratch. She strives to find a person with appropriate technical and soft skills who will share the company’s values.
When she has free time, she writes articles on various outsourcing models for our blog.