A limited talent pool makes hiring developers a challenge for many companies, according to a Digital Ocean report.
The tech talent war rages on, as hiring managers continue to face difficulties finding and retaining in-demand developers, according to a Friday report from Digital Ocean.
Lack of a formal software engineering education tops the list of developer hiring challenges for managers by far, the report found. Some are turning to coding bootcamp graduates to fill open positions: 23% of hiring managers said their company had filled a few jobs with these candidates, while 7% said they had filled many jobs with bootcamp grads.
While some bootcamp graduates are getting hired, some hiring managers differentiate between those with a traditional four-year degree in computer science or engineering and those without one, the report found. Some 55% of hiring managers said they look at all candidates equally, while 23% said it depends on the position they are interviewing for. Meanwhile, 14% said they prefer to hire graduates of college programs, and 8% said they prefer to hire coding bootcamp grads.
SEE: IT Hiring Kit: Programmer (Tech Pro Research)
Hiring managers ranked the following top hiring challenges in terms of difficulty:
When evaluating a job, developers prioritize opportunities for internal growth and development (39%), competitive salaries (39%), a culture that fits their personality (38%), the ability to work remotely (27%), and freedom to use certain technologies (23%).
Hiring managers should take note of these needs, to better tailor job descriptions to in-demand developers.
Alison DeNisco Rayome is a senior editor at CNET, leading a team covering software, apps and services. She was previously a senior editor at CNET's sister site TechRepublic.
