Stack Overflow’s 2017 Developer Ecosystem from a Recruiter’s Perspective

Hiya, I’m back with another post. This one’s a little bit more serious than the last couple as it’s actually about recruitment.

So Stack Overflow have released their 2017 Developer Ecosystem (Tech Hiring edition!) and there are some really interesting points in there. First of all, big thank you to Stack and what they do – both for developers and recruiters. It’s obviously a great resource for developers to discuss and learn, but also for recruiters to understand how to connect in the best possible way. In their recruiting tool, they place a big importance on moderating messages to avoid spamming from recruiters – as anyone on either side of the fence realises, this is not the best way to go about recruitment!

A few bits of data in there really back up some of the thoughts that are currently flying around. A major one is the notion of a skills shortage combined with developers actually looking to move. Only 9.5{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f} of the developers are actively looking for a new role – considering most major tech companies are hiring regularly, this is a really low number to deal with from both an agency perspective and for the companies themselves. However, interestingly, 59.1{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f} aren’t looking, but are open to new opportunities. This is where agencies really step in – looking for developers who might be open to these particular opportunities are quite a big part of how we work, so it’s always really important for a recruiter to understand what someone might be looking for in a next move. Part of my job is to always ask that question. If a candidate isn’t interested in a particular role – because of technology, industry, or location – it’s always great to know what might look ‘right’ for them in a next move, so I can help as best I can when they might be ready to look at new options. After all, my job’s real objective is to find someone their dream role.

Another big part is the discussion around what developers value in compensation and benefits from a role. A major one here is remote options being mentioned by 54.6{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f} of devs. This is a really ‘two sides of the coin’ conversation I’ve seen across my network – the appeal of working from home (or at least having the option) is obvious, especially if they have kids or other similar commitments. However lots of developers I’ve seen mention they don’t like the idea of remote working – they much prefer working with a team and feel that it’s the most effective way to produce the best product. I can definitely see two sides of it, but I think it’s important to note that it’s at least something wanted by over half the talent pool at this stage and there are still so few large tech organisations offering that as an option. To keep the tech hires happy, and to access the side of the industry that will only look for remote (or at least more flexible!) options, I think this is something lots of companies will have to start seriously looking into.

Lastly, a big thing to take into account regarding the job search methods for developers is that 30.9{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f} of job opportunities are found by external recruiters. I know lots of developers who say they don’t need to look for jobs ever, as so many roles are sent their way they can pick and choose when they fancy looking. This isn’t just personal experience – you only need to do a quick search on any tech forums and you’ll see the same thing being said. It’s interesting from my perspective that nearly a third of opportunities are spread via agencies, nearly double of the next highest category (‘a friend, family member or former colleague told me’ – 18{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f}). It not only shows the reach that agencies have over the talent pool but also how it’s quite clear how necessary agencies are needed for those jobs to be spread about. There are bad sides to some recruiters of course, but this shows a really neglected part of our importance.

To round this all up, this blog is really about how recruiters and companies can learn from these sorts of surveys. Companies have to understand from a recruitment perspective that 90{a990e605127f06bac58d8f530ec8d3ddc1721ced564bd12be3752b381e1e9f7f} (90!!!) of developers aren’t actively looking. In turn, due to recruitment agencies effectiveness in spreading these roles to the talent pool, it’s important to realise their importance in an industry heavily affected by a skills shortage (in part, at times, due to the speed of which the industry moves in – please take a look at my other blog post here for more on that). Now, this isn’t a sales pitch for myself at all, more just using some figures from a well-respected part of the tech community to reflect some of the issues in the industry. It’s looking more and more needed for agencies to be used for some of these hard-to-fill roles, but also for agencies to appreciate where the industry is standing from their own perspective.

Written by Jack Prior, Front End Development Recruiter at RedCat Digital
If you took the time to read this and fancy reaching out for whatever reason, please do!

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