Stack Overflow recently published their annual Software Developer Survey Results for 2018, shedding some light on the rapidly changing developer industry and details surrounding its pioneers.
The results entail the degree of education, working status and demographic in the current industry and suggest interesting changes heading into the future.
1. What level of education do software engineers have?
Most software engineer positions require a bachelor’s degree, with about 75% of professional developers having earned the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree or higher and 25% of participants currently pursuing further education. A third of the industry have learned to code within the last 5 years, suggesting the up-and-coming nature of the developer industry as more and more graduates enter the workforce.
2. What’s the gender split in the software engineering industry?
With only 6% of the 100 000 participants of this survey identifying as female, the developer industry is largely male dominated. This points to problems with inclusion in the tech industry, though twice as many women than men have been coding for 2 years or less, suggesting a major shift in the demographic and, particularly in the US, UK and India, the number of students studying software and computer engineering has increased over recent years.
3. What types of companies do software engineers work in?
The majority of respondents are working full or part time in a diverse range of industries, most commonly web development and design (16%), but a significant number of respondents work in media and advertising, financial technology and healthcare services. According to Stack Overflow, within five years, one third of respondents aim to be working in a more specialised technical role than what they are currently in and 50% are happy with their career choice.
4. What are the top paying technologies globally?
- F# $74,000
- Ocaml $73,000
- Clojure $72,000
- Groovy $72,000
- Perl $69,000
5. What is the job search status of software engineers?
In terms of active job-seeking, 15% of respondents were looking while 60% are currently working but are open to new opportunities. In particular, developers working in academia and data scientists are most commonly looking for work. Respondents expressed frustration in some of the negative aspects of finding a job, including broken processes surrounding interviews and recruiting. In contrast, there were many positive aspects of finding a new job, such as new opportunities, technologies and people.
If you’re looking for bright new developers who have recently graduated to join your team get in touch. We can help you find the right fit.
