Massive Software Developer Employment Growth On the Horizon

The growth has reached a level where tech companies are pushing to hire again, in some cases engaging in heated competition for talent. That’s a turnabout for the industry, which had a series of layoffs last year, when some tech giants, notably Microsoft Corp., had mass layoffs for the first time.

The following are examples of activity that show evidence of a current hiring tsunami in the software industry:

• Google said it hired 786 new employees in the first quarter and was just getting started

• Earlier this week Intel disclosed plans for what it called its first substantial hiring in five years. The company expects to hire 1,000 to 2,000 people in 2010

• Twitter Inc. has added about 125 employees since last May for a total of 170, and will continue ramping up, said Chief Executive Evan Williams this week

• Social-networking company LinkedIn Corp. said it recruited 184 people last year to bring its work force to around 500 people, with most of that hiring done in the fourth quarter. The company has hired an additional 154 people so far this year… targeting an additional 300 hires this year

• Dice.com said it now lists more than 62,000 tech positions nationwide, up nearly 22% from 51,000 a year earlier

(WSJ)

Although the most recent Non-Farm Payroll Unemployment Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a slight jump in unemployment from 9.7% to 9.9%, the tech sector continued to display strong resilience. However, The Cyberstates 2010 Definitive State-by-State Analysis of the High Tech Industry, which covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico showed that the sector was not 100% immune. The high tech industry in the U.S. lost 245,600 jobs in 2009, which brought the total number of high tech jobs to 5.9 million. Fortunately for software developers, software services proved to be more immune than most other fields within the high tech industry, adding 10,100 jobs in the fourth quarter, a 1% increase. Additionally, during 2008, wages for high tech workers were 86% higher on average than wages in the private sector ($84,400 compared to $45,400 respectively) and the best paid high tech workers were software publishers, who earned an average wage of $116,000. (TechAmericaFoundation)

Now is an incredible time to be in the computer programmer job market, with handfuls of opportunities making their way to the surface from beneath the ruble of 2008-2009. With new software developer employment opportunities comes increasing competition for the elite. Employers have had the luxury of throwing away heaps of resumes from desperate developers throughout the downturn, but they are beginning to lose that upper hand to the true talent that’s out there.

The high tech companies all follow each other closely and understand that the best developers are not easy to find, so they want to make sure to snatch the talent before their competitors do. Job-seekers who want to find the best opportunities in this new economic environment should continue to treat the job market the way they have throughout these past years because employers have learned just as much as the workforce has during the recession. Continue to act smart, keep your eyes wide open and use your resources wisely.

Source by Brenton Thornicroft