Software Developers and Java Professionals Earn Top Rankings In Survey of Most Challenging Talent to Hire

By Chelsea Babin

With steady industry growth and an unemployment rate lower than it has been in years, technical professionals feel optimistic about the economy, at least when it comes to their own chances of landing a new position. However, even as voluntary quits have risen from November 2014—when 433,000 technical professionals quit their jobs—to November 2015—when roughly 500,000 technical professionals quit their jobs—IT employers are having a hard time finding some of the top technical talent they so desperately need.

In a recent Dice Hiring Survey employers were asked to name the most challenging talent to hire in 2016. On that list Software Developers earned the top slot as the hardest to hire with Java Professionals coming in at a close second. Security, .Net, Software Engineer, Mobile, DevOps, Big Data, Database Administrator, and Software Architect professionals respectively rounded out the top 10.

2016 will be yet another challenging year for employers looking for top technical talent but it will be an especially trying time for employers who are looking for technical professionals who fall within the top 10 most challenging talent to hire slots. For Software Developers, Java Professionals, and more this means they’ll have the pick of the litter when it comes to job opportunities and will likely see their compensation drastically increase over the coming year. Additionally, companies that refuse to offer competitive compensation or creative, meaningful benefits may find their current Software Developers, Java Professionals, Security Professionals, .Net Professionals, Software Engineers, Mobile Professionals, DevOps Professionals, Big Data Professionals, Database Administrators, and Software Architects leaving their company for better opportunities elsewhere.

Doing everything possible to increase technical talent retention, shorten technical job searches, and offering competitive salaries and benefits to technical talent should be a major priority for any company with technical employees in 2016. If not, these organizations may find themselves in one of the most difficult hiring situations this industry, which could cause major project slowdowns or worse. Focusing as many resources as possible on hiring efforts for any of the top 10 most challenging talent to hire categories this year and retaining existing employees in these categories will prove to be a worthwhile investment.