According to a study conducted by VentureBeat, there’s an 87% employment rate among software developers an on average, there are five jobs for every developer. Based on the findings of another research done by Modis, the number of tech employment opportunities is expected to increase by 12% by 2024. This will only lead to more and more jobs becoming available to IT professionals looking to get into the industry.
While companies from all over the world are offering more money and writing bigger checks, it’s safe to say that software developers are in high demand and it will remain that way. However, they are also adopting new strategies to acquire engineers. Companies are focusing more on education and training, sourcing new talent through apprenticeships, and looking at atypical pools of candidates who might be able to join their teams.
Securing the right team of software developers is becoming the key differentiator for performance for companies across the world.
And while there is no perfect formula for acquiring, motivating and retaining top software developers, some of the benefits employers can consider offering are:
➔ Gym and exercise access
➔ Good health coverage
➔ Childcare services
➔ Company retreats and team buildings
➔ Workspace
➔ Sports activities
➔ Community engagements
➔ Work hours flexibility
➔ Training, workshops and education
➔ Legal services
➔ Discount programs
➔ Remote works
➔ Cutting-edge technologies
And the most important segment might be a work-life balance.
Workplace stress. Deadlines. Daily pressures of various responsibilities. Loved ones. Self. Juggling between career and family and finding the perfect balance has always been a challenge for workers from all over the world and developers and not an exception.
When developers feel a greater sense of control and ownership over their own lives and projects, they tend to build better work relationships, feel more enthusiastic and motivated, and definitely less stressed out at work. All will contribute to the overall company productivity and
performance.
However, employee retention is a huge issue for many companies, big and small. So, here are some additional tips for not only acquiring but retaining software developers too:
➔ Involving developers in marketing, strategy and other departments
➔ Allowing them to contribute the code
➔ Organizing cross-functional teams
➔ Communicating flexibility and collaboration
➔ Ensuring clarity of objectives
Acquiring and actually keeping software developers is not an easy task, especially having in mind that there are more available jobs and project waiting than developers to fill them. But, following at least a couple of these tips may really help companies form an extraordinary team of extraordinary developers who will hardly want to go work for some other company.