As you evaluate your career options, you might come across various data sources or articles that help paint a promising or unfavorable future.
Software Development however is a very promising future as the skills required are useful skills in many fields outside of the software industry. According to daxx.com, software developers are forecasted to grow from 23 million jobs to ~29 million by 2025.
In the United States, the Evans Data Corporation believes there are about 4.4 million programming jobs as of 2016.
This data is well supported by the bls.gov in which they believe that the number of jobs will increase by 24% by 2026. However the bls.gov shows a more realistic number of actual software developers being close to about 1.25 million.
However this goes to show that there is also a shortage of individuals with the skills required to become a software developer. It is estimated that about 40,000-50,000 computer science college graduates are generated each year, however similarly looking at the bls.gov source, there are upwards of 300,000 jobs being added within 10 years to the software industry. This would suggest approximately 30,000 jobs per year that may hint that there are more graduates than jobs added each year. This however is a bit unclear given that not all computer science majors end up in software development positions, but rather the possibility of data science, research, teaching, management, and much more.
As a software developer looking for a job, it is typical to be interviewing for multiple companies, evaluating multiple offers, and being looked at like a hot commodity with extra incentives. The reason being is that most companies are looking to retain their developers for as long as possible given the talent shortage and difficulties in hiring highly qualified individuals.
Knowing this information can shift your perspective while looking for jobs and provide you an overall better outcome given that you are in demand and you can use it as leverage within your negotiations. Don’t settle for less, but rather take advantage of market and situation you’re in today.
How To Negotiate Your Software Engineering Job Offer