Developer shortages in 2022

The biggest business challenge this year will be recruiting developers with the right skills, according to more than half (53%) of the software developers and IT professionals responding to the new Reveal "Top Software Development Challenges for 2022" survey released by Infragistics. Reveal’s third annual survey examined the pain points, challenges, and growth areas for developers and IT professionals in the near future.

Other major difficulties identified in the Reveal survey include struggles maintaining current talent (46%) and not enough time to get work done (31%). More than a third (40%) of software industry professionals are facing increased customer demands and 39% are working with limited resources (lack of budget, unable to maintain software).

The Reveal survey findings are supported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which says that Software Developer is one of the top four in-demand professions over the next 10 years with almost 200,000 difficult to replace openings every year. Retirement, exiting the workforce, and moving to different occupations is highlighting this projected shortage of developers.

Developer Solutions and Developer Shortages in 2022

Not only are there not enough developers to meet demand, but those who are available may lack the necessary software development skills for popular frameworks.

Respondents to the Reveal survey identified Blazor as the platform that most (64%) managers are looking to recruit skilled developers for, followed by .NET (48%), Angular (40%), and React (37%).

About half of the survey respondents plan to address developer shortages by using low-code/no-code (app builder) tools, design-to-code platforms, and other software that will work for citizen developers.

"In today’s tight job market, where demand for experienced employees outstrips supply, organizations are turning to new solutions that can address insufficient skills, solve problems and save money. There is a growing need for innovations that can help meet the demand for building applications faster and with fewer resources," explained Jason Beres, SVP Developer Tools, Infragistics.

The Digital Workplace

The most successful companies are embracing remote work and developing strategies that enhance collaboration and productivity. Organizations are gravitating toward platforms that streamline their apps into a digital workplace that combines multiple capabilities, for instance, data dashboards, chat, content, and task management, in one place.
 
This move toward new solutions that embrace remote and hybrid work is evidenced by the 54% of survey respondents who plan to save money in 2022 by incorporating a digital workplace platform. In addition, nearly half of respondents plan to utilize remote staff and downsize their physical office space,
 
"The pandemic and the transition to remote work accelerated the need for digital workplace platforms that can help organize workflow, files, communication, and even manage and analyze data from a single app. In this new digital workplace, the less time people spend app-switching, the more time they’ll spend being productive," noted Beres.

The Rise of Business Intelligence

The Reveal survey also found that business intelligence and data analytics tools are burgeoning due to their ability to solve problems and drive the decision-making process, with 71% percent of software developers expecting their focus on business intelligence to increase and 45% of respondents planning to use embedded analytics in 2022.

More than three-quarters (77%) of software developers are currently incorporating business intelligence apps into their products developed for end-users. The main use cases for business intelligence/data analytics software were identified as: making better business decisions (45%), understanding business problems (44%), improving productivity (43%), and increasing sales/revenue (39%).

Business Increases and Expansion Plans

The software industry predicts an uptick in business in 2022 which is much higher than expectations for 2021. In last year’s Reveal survey report, 22% of developers predicted taking on new projects in 2021, whereas 42% expect to take on new projects in 2022. Requests for proposals, new market expansion, revenue, and adoption of new technology and applications are also expected to rise this year.

Software developers are hopeful about 2022, as 35% indicated that they are positive about the future and have no plans to cut back in 2022.

"Advancements in technology have provided software developers with more effective tools for managing remote work, simplifying the digital workflow, enhancing productivity, addressing the skills gap, and transforming data into business insights. As a whole, the future of the software development industry seems bright as evidenced by an increase in new projects, expansion plans, and expectations for revenue increases," said Beres.

Methodology

A total of 2,015 software developers and IT professionals participated in Infragistics’ Reveal’s third annual survey from December 10, 2021, to January 12, 2022.