Current state of the software developer job market
In the USA alone, there is, at this moment, almost 500,000 software developer jobs on the market. It’s estimated that another 500,000 software developers will retire in the next few years. That means that there will be a shortage of one million software developers in the USA. The estimate is that by 2021, there will be a shortage of 1.4 million software developers and only 400,000 software developer graduates. Employment of software developers is projected to grow 21 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Software development is a lucrative career path with an average annual salary of $99,500. The demand for software engineers is increasing, but there aren’t enough skilled engineers to fill the demand. What does that mean for the average software development company?
They will have to make even more lucrative offers to fill void positions. A shortage of software engineers worldwide means their average salaries will keep increasing. That isn’t a good thing for companies because it doesn’t mean an increase in the skill of the average worker.
Because of this talent shortage, the current talent pool will continue to deliver average workers who will demand high payment.
According toITWorld, a company can spend 8-12 weeks or longer when hiring a specialized team of software developers. This is two or three months wasted, project launch is delayed and simply said, the company loses money.
Thousands of businesses worldwide are dependent on a good talent pool to hire from. This means that the whole world will be adopting new technologies like machine learning, AI, cloud, and others at a slower pace. The software development growth can’t keep up with the shortage of engineers.
Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong – Murphy’s Law
Are software developers in demand? Yes, but!
The talent shortage of software developers is only a small part of the whole story. Employers face many more challenges when it comes to the Software Development industry.
Even when companies manage to find a pool of a dozen software developers to choose from, they face these challenges:
-
The shortlisted software developers don’t have enough experience
-
They don’t have all of the technical skills needed for the job
-
They don’t have soft skills (communication, problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, work ethic, flexibility and so on)
-
They don’t have formal education
-
The salary demands are outrageous
The shortlisted software developers don’t have enough experience
We have analyzed the market. Many people are recent software developer graduates, and they are new to the marketplace. Yes, we were all at this point once in our lives, but you will need the experience to keep the reputation of your company and the standards you set high.
There are times when you can hire inexperienced software developers because of the shortage, but you can’t expect high-quality work to be done by them in the next months or even years.
These people aren’t problem solvers, and your team will waste more time to explain everything to them than do actual work. It’s not cost-effective.
They don’t have all of the technical skills needed for the job
When searching for new software developers for your company, you will find that more often than not, they won’t have the technical skill needed to complete the necessary work.
A software developer skilled in one field might be lacking in another. Depending on your project, maybe he will do the current job well, but he won’t be able to do the next two projects.
You need to put these people to tests, have them talk to the HR department, basically lose a lot of time, and you might end up with the wrong person.
They don’t have soft skills
Soft skills are almost as important as technical skills. They complement each other. Maybe you’ll find a great software developer who simply doesn’t like talking to people. He won’t share his thoughts with the team or explain in what direction his work is heading. Because of his lack of teamwork and communication, your project might end up being a mess. This is especially true when it comes to larger projects.
Working for a software development company isn’t solo work. People are diverse, and they can complement each other with their work. But that only works if they both have soft skills in the first place.
They don’t have formal education
The majority of schools in the world, including the USA, don’t teach computer science. Data shows that 58% of all new jobs are STEM jobs (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). It’s the most significant job field in the world, and schools aren’t adapting. This is especially true for schools in the USA.
Many software developers don’t have a formal education. Even though they do have skills to complete some projects, they have some disadvantages to those with formal education.
Those with formal education understand algorithms and data structures. They have experience with compilers and interpreters. They are trained in OS theory; they know how operating systems software works, and they understand different architectures. Big companies have firsthand experience of this difference when big complicated things arise. The problem-solving skills and critical algorithms are simply better.
That’s when you understand that when people say that formal education teaches you things that “don’t have real-world application,” are either lazy or not competent enough to understand those things.
The salary demands are outrageous
With so much demand for software developers and such a small pool to choose from, they are free to demand high salaries for their services. Everyone needs to be paid well for their work, but companies have to secure their stability first.
When buying products online or in brick and mortar shops, you always look for quality. You don’t want to pay something that will only last a few days or months if it’s supposed to last for years. The same is for your workers. You need to hire software developers, so their prices match their competency. Until the world (especially the USA) starts producing more talent, you will keep ending up with sloppy workers at a high price.
So, what’s the solution to successfully managing the software developer pool talent and managing all these challenges you face when hiring software developers?
Get rid of the talent shortage of software developers by hiring abroad. Yes, that means outsourcing.
How Can Outsourcing Help Your Company Overcome the Shortage of Software Developers?
The shortage of local software developers is the number one reason companies decide to outsource. The second reason is the average salary expectations.
For example, outsourcing your work to Ukraine where our company is based will save you tens of thousands of dollars per each developer. This is a fact that can’t be ignored.
Virtual teams to Ukraine, particularly to our company NCube makes sense because of these reasons:
-
Available Talent
-
Cost
-
Convenient Time Zone (If you are from the USA, there is a 6-9 hours difference. When you sleep, we work and vice-versa. Less time lost on projects)
-
You can focus on your Core Business Development
-
Enhance service quality
Eastern Europe has a growing labor force of highly skilled software developers and other workers in the IT areas.
The general population speaks English and sometimes even a third language. This means there will never be communication problems.
NCube is the Way to Overcome the Software Developer Talent Shortage
Technology leaders around the world trust NCube to develop their products. We have over 30,000 developers in our network, and it only takes us 2-4 weeks to launch a team. We handpick specialists for your project, keep your intellectual property safe, and all our work is being reported directly to you and your company leaders.
NCube Statistics
-
11 years of software development experience
-
70% of our engineers are certified senior developers
-
86% of our engineers work on a project from start to finish
-
52% of our clients scale up during the first year of business
-
293% growth over the past three years
“Good talent is the driving force behind every project” – NCube
Ukrainian IT service market offers talented engineers and problem solvers, which is acknowledged by 110 world’s well-known companies and startups that run their remote tech teams in this region. Ukrainian developers are ranked 11th among 50 countries in terms of quality according to HackerRank.
The monthly salary of a skilled engineer varies between $1,500–$2,500. The rate is higher for DevOps and experts with rare skill sets like AI and Data Science – the cost per month for such specialist can reach $6,000, which is the highest salary for a software engineer in Ukraine. The range is primarily defined by the technology stack, seniority of developers and a city where you want to build your tech team.
The average salary for software engineers in Ukraine
How much does Java specialist earn?
According to a recent report, Java is the most used programming language in the Ukrainian IT community. At the same time, this language ranks 4th most popular technology according to the StackOverflow report. Java experts earn $8K – 50K annually depending on the seniority level. As a comparison, a Java programmer salary in the US per year is around $102K.
.NET developer salary
Today, the demand for .NET specialists in Ukraine is extremely high. According to dou.ua, nearly 400 hot vacancies have been opened for this position this month. .NET developer salary in Ukraine falls within $8K – $50K per year. At the same time, their counterparts in the USA earn between $46K – $104K.
The average salary for Golang developer
Ukrainian companies offer fewer opportunities for Go specialists than .NET and Java these days. Yet this technology made the top ten most popular technologies among Ukrainian programmers in 2018. In fact, a Go specialist remains one of the most highly paid positions with the annual salary ranging between $8K – $54K, whereas someone in this role earns $136K or $70 per hour in the USA. Compare it with the UI developer salary: on average, such specialists make $87K per year and $61 per hour.
What is the annual salary for JS expert?
JavaScript skills are all the rage in Ukrainian IT. This language is the runner up to Java according to the language popularity report. The JavaScript developer salary is between $7K – $54K, being the highest for the most experienced developers as compared to other languages, with the exception of Python an iOS. On average, JavaScript experts in the USA make $112K per year. As a comparison, a junior web developer in Kiev makes about $6K annually.
PHP developer salary in 2019
Although the popularity of PHP has declined, it still takes 4th place in the rank of the commonly used programming languages in Ukrainian IT. In fact, a slew of aspiring programmers chooses it to study as their first programming language, alongside Java, JS, C, C#, Python. The PHP developer’s salary is one of the lowest for a junior role – $3,5K – 6K per year, while senior-level specialists make $24K – $48K annually.
The average Python developer salary
Python is on the rise in the Ukrainian job market, and it hands down dominates the Data Science field. This language tops the list of most wanted skills to learn alongside Go, TypeScript, and Kotlin. It’s also one of the highest paid skills for senior Python programmers in Ukraine – the annual salary can reach up to $60K. Overall, Python developer salary is between $7K – $60K, depending on a candidate’s experience.
How much does Android developer make?
More and more Android experts start to gravitate towards Kotlin for programming on this platform. Due to its novelty, Kotlin specialists have fewer years of experience, but the language has been named among the most wanted technologies to learn. In Ukraine, a junior specialist with skills in development for Android platform earns approximately $7K per year, while a programmer’s salary in a middle and senior role is $42K – $54K. In the USA, Android specialists’ pay is around $113K per year.
The average salary for iOS expert
iOS development is moving to Swift. This is typical for Ukraine as well, where Swift is now used by 75% of software developers involved in iOS projects. It’s no surprise that Objective-C is ranked as one of the most unpopular languages to learn. Ukrainian iOS talents make $6K – $60K annually, which is one of the highest paid skills in the market for senior level positions, together with Python and Ruby developers.
How much does QA engineer make per year?
With more than 500 vacancies opened this month, QA certainly is one of the most demanded skills in the Ukrainian job market. The QA specialist average salary is lower than front-end developer salary or full-stack engineer salary. This situation is similar in the USA, where an hourly rate of a QA specialist is $37 (approximately $6,5K monthly).
According to a recent report, the salaries of Ukrainian developers tend to stay without any significant changes over the past two years. At the same time, the industry keeps growing with currently 4 Billion IT service exports. The talent pool has reached 185,000 talents, offering a vast choice of skill sets and expertise. In Ukraine, it’s easy to build a team of skilled software talents with any title. Most of our clients have diversified teams involving strong juniors, several middle engineers and senior specialists.
How to benefit from hiring developers in Ukraine?
- One of the easiest ways to save is considering different cities. Kiev and Lviv are the most expensive cities in terms of living cost. As such, it makes sense to take your search to other IT hubs like Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa, where the salaries of engineers are lower. However, the search in these locations might take more time than in Kiev or Lviv.
- Aim at Strong Junior developers. These are the specialists with 1-2 years of experience that yet need to work on their portfolio to break into the Middle level. The drawback is that they will soon leave for other opportunities.
- Hire solid engineers with Intermediate English. In Ukraine, most developers and testers have Upper-Intermediate proficiency. Specialists that speak English fluently usually earn higher salaries. To overcome the communication barriers with Ukrainian developers, you can hire a Project Manager with advanced English proficiency as a single point of contact with your team.
Afterword
Hiring developers in Ukraine will be one of the most profitable decisions you will make for your business. The talent pool is rich and the value for money is beneficial. If you are looking to build your remote tech team in Kiev, talk to our experts who will be happy to guide you through the process.
