As the talent drought in software engineering continues to intensify, studies have found it takes 50% longer to hire people for tech roles than for other roles--an average of 66 days.
And the dearth of software engineers is also slowing down innovation, with over 50% of CIOs saying lack of skills is making it hard for them to keep up with new technologies, and 60% saying it makes it hard for them to keep up with the competition.
The issue isn’t a lack of applicants--in fact, an iCIMS report has revealed that tech positions have twice as many applicants per hire as other roles. Rather, it’s a lack of qualified engineering talent, with the most scarce and in-demand skills corresponding to the newest languages and technologies. This means the talent drought is likely to keep increasing as new tech trends emerge.
Giants like Apple, Google and IBM have the advantage in terms of budget and prestige, and are attracting many of the best skilled applicants, leaving smaller companies to fight for the scraps.
In this market, if you’re a smaller organisation that needs to source good applicants with the right skill set, you need to consider partnering with a software outsourcing company that can enable you to tap into new talent pools. A Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO survey found that 41% of organizations plan to spend more on software outsourcing.
The shortage of software engineers looks likely to get worse before it gets better. Leverage the benefits of working with an outsourcing company to ensure you don’t get caught without the people you need.