For the past several months, the data has shown that employers everywhere are hungry for software developers and engineers who can build the next generation of software products. But what kinds of products are these developers and engineers actually working on?
Jetbrains recently conducted a massive survey of 31,743 developers worldwide, offering a comprehensive view into what technologists are working on right now. It seems a majority (61 percent) of engineers and developers are working on websites; healthy percentages are also working on utilities (39 percent) and databases/data storage (29 percent). Check out the full list:
In many ways, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Virtually all companies need websites, especially if they’re selling something. They also need utilities to keep everything running internally, and databases to keep all of their most valuable information organized and accessible.
If you’re a software developer or engineer, it’s clear that specializing in web development and databases can help you land a job; depending on where you are in your career, you may also end up overseeing a team working on these kinds of projects. This aligns with job-posting data from Burning Glass, which suggests that software developer/engineer, project manager, and network engineer/architect are currently the top in-demand technologist jobs.
Burning Glass estimates that web developer jobs could grow by 14.9 percent over the next decade. Right now, the current time to fill an open web developer position is 38 days (on average), which suggests that it’s taking quite a bit of time for employers to find suitable professionals—again, an indication of strong demand. Clearly, this isn’t a profession that’s fading anytime soon.
The Jetbrains survey offered some other data points of interest. For example, software developers and engineers in the U.S. earn the highest median salary worldwide (when adjusted for U.S. dollars), at $102,000; by comparison, software developers and engineers in Canada and the United Kingdom earn a median salary of $54,000. That’s before you consider the perks and benefits offered by some companies, including flexible schedules; if you have the right skills, you have a bit of leverage to negotiate for what you want.
