Why is there a Shortage of Developers in the World?

The shortage of highly qualified developers has reached a critical level in just a few years. And this is a global trend. In the following article, we will have a look at the scale of the problem, its essence, and possible solutions.

Lack of Specialists in the World

The growth of new personnel in the labor market is rather modest - less than five percent per year. Demand growth is much higher - according to some estimates, this figure is about 25% annually. According to the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, 62% of HR departments in large companies report a shortage of information security experts.

The ratio of active resumes and open vacancies in IT, Internet, and telecommunications can be called critical. If we analyze not IT as a whole, but individual specialties, then the situation can be even more complicated.

This is a global trend. While there is a general shortage of professionals, the shortage in the information security industry, in particular, is of significant interest. According to a report by analyst firm CyberSeek, about 40,000 IT security vacancies are filled annually in the United States alone. More than 200,000 of these vacancies remain open. The required number of specialists simply does not exist, either in the United States or elsewhere. On the Indeed recruiting site, out of 10 vacancies posted, only 7 are active, meaning someone clicks on them. Three ads remain unclaimed.

On average, about 45% of companies around the world lack developers. At the moment, specialists in areas such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data, etc. are especially in demand. In addition, there is a very strong shortage of developers at all stages of product development (full stack developer, frontend developer, backend developer, solution architect), as well as IT business analysts.

And this is not a temporary phenomenon. Yes, the transition of companies to online has exacerbated the already high demand for programmers, information security specialists, analysts, and even representatives of other industries. But the personnel shortage in IT has been observed for many years, and so far it continues to grow. This trend will continue for the next 3-5 years. During this time, the global IT deficit can reach the level of 5-6 million specialists.

It's not About Salaries

The salaries of developers are high, at least higher than the national average. The exact amount of salary depends on the region and city in which the office of the employee's company is located.

For Python programmers, the salary is already about $120,000 per year. And this is not the limit - in some companies, the salary can be much higher.

Classical Education and the Bottleneck

The problem of the shortage of specialists is complex. But one of the basic reasons is the impossibility at this stage to train the number of specialists necessary for the country in Universities.

Higher education institutions are the bottleneck of the IT industry. Every year, universities and technical schools graduate about 82,000 IT specialists. Traditional educational institutions cannot cope with the task of solving the deficit. The situation is getting worse also because even graduates of technical departments of specialized universities do not always have the knowledge and experience that business or the state need.

In many ways, Universities are too inert to respond quickly to demand dynamics. So, even for the modernization of the existing training program, an ordinary educational institution needs several months. It may take a year or two to enter a new specialty.

So What do you do?

Train more specialists by combining different methods, technologies, and educational tools. So, in addition to specialized institutions, it is worth using online training, including courses, boot camps and other formats. Universities, realizing the promise of learning on the Internet, have been developing blended learning programs.

Companies are actively developing the direction of "dual learning", during which students receive theoretical training and knowledge. In IT companies, modern problems are solved with the help of modern technologies and methods. Students, using this set, become strong specialists by the fifth year. After receiving a diploma, many continue to work where they started, gradually moving up the career ladder.

In the opinion of many representatives of the IT industry, a set of measures related to all the above areas can solve the staff shortage: Co-operation between universities and IT companies, training students in online courses, boot camps, and online universities. Of course, the government should also be involved in resolving this issue, helping businesses, Universities, and young specialists. All this as a whole can give a positive result in the near future.