I was talking with my father the other day about the software engineering shortage. Almost every workplace can see this when they post a listing for a technical job. There are few applicants, the quality can be low, and it takes a long time to fill the roles. The only way it seems these jobs can be filled effectively is to have a workplace that is good enough your existing workers want to convince their friends to work there.
By the Numbers
- One third of technical roles are unfilled after being posted for five months according to Gartner.
- 26% is how much Bureau of Labor Statistics thinks Software Engineer openings will increase by 2031.
- 85 million is the size of the global shortage of tech workers by 2030 according to Korn Ferry.
People Like These Jobs?
I enjoy being a software engineer and many but not all of my twitter followers agree.
If you work as a software engineer, do you enjoy the job?
— Matt Zagaja (@mzagaja) October 5, 2022
Despite the proliferation of online courses and bootcamps, it seems like many folks struggle to learn the skills or do not enjoy the learning journey that gets them to being professional coders. The biggest issue I heard from my peers in my tech meetup has been skill building.
Teaser
Tomorrow I will share some thoughts on why learning to code is a slog.
Tackling the Shortage
- Ruthie Farmer of the Last Mile Education Fund thinks that we can help more students graduate with STEM degrees if we provide support.
- David Malan has built an engaging online offering from his popular CS50 course at Harvard.