CodinGame and CoderPad have launched their State of Tech Hiring in 2023 report, which reveals the most in-demand programming languages and tech occupations in the current year.
Over 65,000 developers and technical recruiters, including 14,000 professionally qualified participants, were questioned by the recruiting platforms for an up-to-date view on working and hiring activities in the field.
JavaScript, Java, Python, Typescript, and C# were discovered to be the three most in-demand programming languages among recruiters.
In most cases, demand and supply for developers fluent in these languages were balanced.
However, Typescript had a somewhat lower supply than demand, implying a scarcity of developers who can write in that language.
React, Node.js, and are examples of language frameworks. The most popular and well-known were NETCore, Spring, and Angular 2+.
According to the research, the latter has continued to lack expertise due to diminishing appeal among developers.
The graphs below indicate what proportion of polled developers stated they were acquainted with each language and framework, as well as what percentage of IT recruiters were hiring for roles that required knowledge of each.
“In 2021, 17% of respondents said they know Angular 2+, compared to 12.3% this year,” the report said.
The survey also discovered that trends in the most in-demand skills among developers and recruiters stayed generally consistent with prior years.
Web development, AI/machine learning, and game development are the most in-demand talents that developers desire to master.
The popularity of AI/machine learning among developers fell somewhat, from 30% in the 2021 poll to 24% in the 2022 study.
Web development, DevOps, and database software development are the top three capabilities that tech recruiters want to employ for.
When it comes to technical positions in general, the survey discovered that the following were the most in-demand roles among tech recruiters:
- back-end developers (55.04%)
- full-stack developers (54.33%)
- applications developers (45.12%)
According to the survey, the above positions matched the web development talents that recruiters were looking for.
One sought-after position that has witnessed a reduction in demand is that of DevOps engineer, which has fallen from third to fifth in popularity.
However, according to CodinGame and CoderPad, DevOps is still a highly valued skill set, ranking second only to web development.
“Our theory about this shift is that businesses are maturing in their adoption of DevOps and SRE (site reliability engineering) and coming to view them as principles to apply within a tech team, rather than specialist roles,” they said.
Companies struggled to hire for jobs that were substantially connected with the most in-demand roles, indicating a possible lack of full-stack and back-end engineering candidates.
“The boom in demand for web developers does not face as much competition on the front end,” the report said.
“One possible explanation is the widespread availability of online training courses for front-end development, whereas full-stack and back-end developers tend to take a more traditional academic path.”
A university degree in computer science was held by 70% of full-stack engineers and 64% of back-end developers.
“This longer learning pattern creates a disconnect between market demand and supply, and we see here that recruiters feel it painfully,” the report said.
The graph below depicts the jobs that organisations struggle to fill, which are closely related to the most in-demand occupations.
The research also addressed various other industry trends and changes, such as the sorts of qualifications survey respondents had and the link between recruiting for permanent and freelance employment.
It discovered that the majority of developers — over 59% — did not have a university degree in Computer Science, and that around a third were mostly self-taught.
“In markets where requiring a Computer Science degree is the ‘norm’, over half of engineers today wouldn’t meet that standard,” the report stated.
“Fortunately, about 80% of businesses do recruit developers with non-academic backgrounds.”
However, the percentage of businesses that say they don’t recruit developers without a degree — 20% — has stayed constant over the last three years.
In terms of permanent vs freelance labour, the poll found a considerable increase in recruiters seeking contingent personnel.
63% of recruiters indicated they were hiring for freelance positions, up from 42% last year.
The research also addressed various other industry trends and changes, such as the sorts of qualifications survey respondents had and the link between recruiting for permanent and freelance employment.
It discovered that the majority of developers — over 59% — did not have a university degree in Computer Science, and that around a third were mostly self-taught.
“In markets where requiring a Computer Science degree is the ‘norm’, over half of engineers today wouldn’t meet that standard,” the report stated.
“Fortunately, about 80% of businesses do recruit developers with non-academic backgrounds.”
However, the percentage of businesses that say they don’t recruit developers without a degree — 20% — has stayed constant over the last three years.
In terms of permanent vs freelance labour, the poll found a considerable increase in recruiters seeking contingent personnel.
63% of recruiters indicated they were hiring for freelance positions, up from 42% last year.
