Are you looking to grow your development team in 2022?
Here are some things to consider, when you are trying to attract the best developer talent in the UK.
The tech talent shortage.
The competition to attract developer talent is a race like none other we have seen for some time. The Digital Revolution has meant that businesses across every area of industry are racing to hire technical staff with the know-how to ensure they remain solvent and relevant moving forward.
According to Stack Overflow, there are over open 70,000 technical roles. However, 80% of developers aren’t looking for new roles, although more than half are open to being approached about new opportunities.
With so many companies looking to hire, and a shortage of technical job seekers, how can you stay ahead of the competition when it comes to growing your development team?
The good news is there are things you can do.
Stack Overflow has surveyed over 500 members of the developer community. The findings are interesting. They will help you tailor your role and package toward what matters both to the developers you are looking to hire, and the ones you need to retain.
What matters to developers who are looking for new roles?
If you are looking to grow your developer team in 2022, these are the things to consider when you are selling a role and your organisation to potential new hires.
- 53% want the developer experience to be prioritized at work
- Salary transparency comes in second with 41%
- 40% want opportunities to learn from those outside their team.
- 35% would like a structured onboarding process
- 33% would want opportunities to find leaders and experts within a company.
On the reverse side of the coin, these are what developers DON’T want from a new job.
- 60% would be turned off if resources were limited, and 54% find companies unattractive when they don’t have the resources to feel confident in their work.
- 56% of developers value flexibility, saying they would reject a company that tied them into specific hours.
- 50% reported they would find companies who required them to go into the office unappealing, highlighting the value of remote and work-from-home options.
Be competitive.
Over 75% of the developers asked were likely to compare a counteroffer or another opportunity with the one they already have.
The three top comparisons they make are based upon
- Salary – 69%
- Flexibility – 61%
- Opportunities to learn – 53%
To attract developers it’s important to be aware of the broader market. Make sure you are favourable by researching what your competitors offer. Stay ahead of the game, by matching – or if possible – beating them on these key deciders.
Retaining your development team.
Yes, attracting developer talent is a priority for your businesses, but so is retaining the talent you do have. The Stack Overflow study highlighted that 75% of developers are open to new roles if approached.
So what will ensure your devs stay sitting at your table?
These are the top 3 considerations developers look at when assessing if they wish to remain at their current role.
- Flexibility – 65%
- Salary – 59%
- Opportunities to learn – 56%
It’s also worth noting that flexibility was crucial across all demographics but is especially important to millennials. Unsurprisingly, Millennials were also the group who held ‘opportunities to learn’ with the highest regard.
What else matters?
Reputation.
Even passive candidates or those not actively looking for work have an idea about who they may want to work for in the future. A company’s wider reputation is important and goes a long way in informing their decisions both to apply and accept a job with you.
Typically, developers lean toward 4 key sources to get an idea about what it’s like to work there.
- Their personal network
- Media
- Company content – blogs, video, etc
- Reviews
When you are advertising both your company and the role, you need to ensure you live up to both your reputation and your manifesto. The developers who took part in the survey revealed that they are split upon if the reputation of their company lives up to the reality of what it’s like to actually work there.
Tech stack.
When it comes to why developers reject an offer or pull out of the interview process 32% do so because they don’t like the tech stack.
For more on why the tech stack is so important to developers, you may like to read our recent blog.
Other reasons developers may lose interest are
- Getting an alternative offer – 36%
- A disordered interview process – 24%
- Unusual interview questions – 24%
- Poor employer reviews – 24%
- Not enough available company information – 22%
2022 and beyond.
If it’s developers you wish to attract (and retain) it’s important to remember that there are some factors that matter to them more than others. Number 1 on their list is flexibility, closely followed by opportunities to learn, and of course salary.
The war for developer talent shows no signs of stopping. In fact, it’s likely as we continue into 2022, that more and more tech roles will become just as hardly fought, and won, by those companies who have researched the market and are willing to tailor a package that is both attractive and competitive.
Are you looking to grow your tech team this year? Reach out to us today to find out how we work and what we can do to help you find the people you need to power your business.
