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Help, I'm looking for a developer

The staff shortage seems to have no end in sight. Many industries are experiencing this problem for the first time. More than 30 percent of employers now indicate that their business operations are at risk due to the staff shortage.

This is nothing new for the IT industry. For years, it has been on the lists of industries with the greatest labour shortages. Developers and testers, in particular, are difficult to find. How do you ensure that you find these people? We’ve compiled a list of options for you.

Recruitment:

In the Netherlands, there are approximately 330,000 developers. You might think that there are plenty to choose from, but it can be difficult to find the one person with the right skills specifically for your organization or project. Every requirement you have for a candidate significantly reduces your search group. A good recruiter can help with this.

While investing in recruitment can be costly and time-consuming, it can result in finding that one developer or tester you need. Recruiters can find the right people and also support with creative solutions. They can look beyond critical requirements to expand the search group.

In practice, making matches often means taking people away from competitors. Bidding against each other results in increasingly expensive developers and requires an investment in retaining personnel. There is little point in investing in recruiting new people if they leave your organization. Developers themselves are becoming increasingly critical of company culture and opportunities for development, making it more difficult to retain staff.

Training:

If you can’t find the right people, you can choose to train them. It is always possible to train developers in a new technical stack or hire newcomers as juniors.

If you choose to train people internally, you will first need to decide what type of training to offer. Although setting up an internal training program requires a lot of time, money, and guidance, it results in developers who are specifically trained for your job. In addition, the curriculum can be used multiple times, ultimately costing fewer resources to train people internally.

You can also choose to train someone externally. It saves time and capacity within the organization while ensuring the quality of the training. The biggest drawback is that it can be expensive and take a big chunk out of your training budget.

Nearshoring and Offshoring:

To address the labour shortage, more supply is needed. If training is too costly, nearshoring or offshoring can be a good solution. With nearshoring and offshoring, you choose to use developers who work remotely from other countries. Nearshoring involves countries that are relatively close by, while offshoring involves countries that are further away. Nearshoring and offshoring give you immediate access to a new pool of developers. This not only gives you more supply and choice but also saves time and money compared to recruiting and training. The main disadvantage of nearshoring and offshoring is communication. Cultural differences can arise, and having a remote colleague can pose challenges. However, choosing nearshoring or offshoring is becoming increasingly attractive. Due to globalization, English is often already the working language for developers and testers. Additionally, since the COVID-19 crisis, companies are becoming better equipped for digital and remote work. To make nearshoring or offshoring a success, it is important to consider how you want to do it. Generally, there are three types of models that providers work with: fixed price, time and materials, or dedicated team model.

Conclusion:

The right development capacity is not only the basis for launching products faster, but also increases your adaptability in the market. Each of the above-mentioned options has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no clear winner. The real benefit appears to lie in a combination of options. A mix of people who have a good understanding of the market and the product, together with external expertise and support, leads to a healthy mix. In this way, you can make optimal use of everyone’s talents and be resilient to change. In addition, you can train people who will grow with your company, with an eye to the future.

However, training will not solve all the problems of a labour shortage. The technological developments in the ICT industry are constantly evolving, so developers are never done learning.