In today's fast-paced digital world, technology is king. From artificial intelligence to process automation, companies rely on cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of the competition. But with rapid advancements in the tech field come new challenges for businesses looking to keep up. One of which is a severe tech talent shortage.

Table of contents:

• What’s causing the tech talent gap?
• Retention: The key to closing the tech talent gap
• Solve your tech talent shortage with low-code

As demand continues to outstrip supply, companies struggle to find and retain top talent in areas like software engineering and data science.

What can organizations do to bridge this ever-widening gap?

What’s causing the tech talent gap?

The tech talent shortage is a global phenomenon that has been exacerbated by the rapid growth of the technology industry and the increasing demand for technical skills.

According to IDC¹, the shortage of full-time developers will reach 20% by 2025. Several factors are leading to this talent drought. Here are the three most frequent we at Direct Impact Solutions see among our customers:

1. Rapid pace of innovation: Companies across all industries are in dire need of tech talent, as the demand for highly-skilled workers far outweighs the supply. Gone are the days when organizations were solely software consumers. With the market constantly changing and disruptive forces impacting the world as we know it, organizations are being pushed to become software producers. Beyond that, the software produced can’t be blasé; it has to be differentiating, unique, and capable of delivering experiences that delight customers and employees.
2. Lack of training and education opportunities for people who want to enter the tech field: Many individuals don’t have sufficient access to programs that train people for careers in technology. This lack of access to training can be a major barrier for people who want to work in tech but don’t have the necessary skills or qualifications.
3. Competitive landscape: It’s very difficult to retain talented workers once they are hired. Due to the high demand for their skills, many tech workers are poached by other companies or lured away by higher salaries and better benefits every day.

All these factors end up having a brutal effect on business.

Organizations are often forced to pay higher salaries or offer other incentives to attract and retain talent, leading to increased operating costs. Projects, including critical initiatives, are delayed or even canceled.

There’s an additional impact on adjacent industries that rely on technology. For example, the healthcare industry struggles to find enough qualified IT professionals to fill critical roles. This results in longer patient wait times and higher costs for healthcare providers.

So, what can organizations do to fight this flow?

Retention: The key to closing the tech talent gap

It may sound obvious but unless you have deep pockets and are able to compete with the salaries and exciting innovative projects offered by tech giants like Google and Amazon, retention is your best bet.

Especially now, in the post-pandemic world where remote work and flexible hours have become mainstream. You are not just competing against companies within a limited geographical radius of yours; you’re competing against the entire world.

But to retain tech talent, you must know what keeps developers engaged and motivated.

That’s what a new report by OutSystems and Evans Data Corp looked to find out. In Developer Engagement: Are Your Developers Happy or Halfway Out the Door? over 800 developers worldwide shared their insights on what keeps them motivated and engaged with a company.

You can download the full report in the link above, but here are the statistics we found most interesting.

1. Less than half of developers plan to stay at their current company

Most developers love their jobs (64%), but only 48% “definitely plan” to be with their current employer in one year — and that percentage falls to 29% when looking two years out.

The time that developers will “definitely stay” with their current employer.

2. A better work-life balance is the #1 reason to stay

With many employees working remotely by choice, retaining talent has become more complex as financial benefits and “fun” perks in the office are not enough to attract developers. According to the survey, 42% of respondents were confident they could easily find a better job based on the sheer number of job opportunities.

Developers need a better reason to stay.

When asked what would keep them motivated, they answered:

• Better work-life balance (50%)
• Better salary (28%)
• Better team staffing (29%)

3. Developers that use low-code are more likely to stay

Organizations have been adopting low-code to boost the productivity of their developers. The survey data not only shows that developers enjoy the benefits of low-code, but also that using low-code correlates with what they identified to be critical for motivation:

• Developers who use low-code are much more likely to report high satisfaction with their tools than traditional developers (57% vs. 36%).
• 49% of respondents strongly agreed that low-code improves creativity.
• 50% of developers surveyed said low-code improves the quality of apps.
• Despite having significantly smaller development teams, low-code developers are more satisfied with the size of their teams.
• Low-code developers have been promoted an average of 3.5 times at their company compared to 2 times for their traditional developer colleagues.

Solve your tech talent shortage with low-code

Bridging the tech talent gap is crucial to meeting the agility and adaptability demands in this era of “digital urgency.” The global tech talent shortage is not expected to disappear anytime soon, and low-code can play a key role in ensuring your developers feel productive and engaged.

A high-performance low-code platform like OutSystems can help you close that gap while maximizing your resources and giving you the agility and power needed to cope with the modern business landscape.

With OutSystems, you can:

• Increase speed-to-market: quickly develop and deploy custom applications with minimal coding. This can help you market your products and services faster than your competitors.
• Reduce development costs: reduce the cost of developing custom applications by eliminating the need for expensive coding resources.
• Increase flexibility and agility: change or customize your applications as your business needs evolve. This can give you a competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing business environment.

You can explore more about OutSystems on its platform page. If you’re looking for a partner, reach out to us at Direct Impact Solutions.

Since 1997, we’ve helped private, government, and non-profit organizations achieve digital transformation by developing custom applications and assisting with the implementation process.

Our focus on innovation and process control produces consistently excellent software. Our clients realize efficiency gains by refactoring or replacing outdated legacy solutions and eliminating repetitive processes. Our large size, stable structure, and multinational presence make us a reliable choice for clients with unique, complex, and ever-changing business processes.

To learn more about us, visit our website.

And if you’re in the process of building your development team, check out our article How to Find an App Developer, where you will find a few pointers that can help you choose the right team for the job.

¹IDC FutureScape Worldwide Developer and DevOps 2021 Predictions