44% software developers may leave job this year: Report

Trends indicate that the Great Resignation is not over yet. According to a report, 44% of software developers in India are considering leaving or may consider leaving their job this year.

The report by DigitalOcean Holdings, the cloud for developers, startups and SMBs states that the “Great Resignation and developer talent shortage trends are strong in India, with 32% of those who have been working for more than a year reporting that they have started a new job in the past year, and 44% of the same group considering leaving or may consider leaving their job this year.”

The study shows that 27% of developers with more than a year of experience have started a new job in the past year. While those with lesser years of experience are most likely to be shifting jobs, one in five developers with 15 years or more experience have also started a new job in the past year.

The Great Resignation is a trend whereby employees have been voluntarily resigning from their jobs since early 2021. The Great Resignation is also termed as the Great Reshuffle or Big Quit and the reason for it include, job dissatisfaction, lack of flexible work culture, wage stagnation, safety concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic etc.

Motivations for leaving jobs remains the same among those who have already left and those considering leaving, with compensation, remote or flexible work environments, and better benefits being the top factors that motivate people to leave jobs, especially for younger developers.

The study finds out that 8% of both those who have left a job and those who are looking to leave have left to start their own company, demonstrating the flexibility that developers have today.

On the challenges front, the study notes that technical debt and prioritising speed of delivery over quality code are the top challenges for developers.

Also, lack of time and resources to work on projects is also a key challenge which is cited by 18% of respondents, and 11% mention team members leaving as a challenge, demonstrating that the developer talent shortage is impacting even those who stay in their roles.

The study also points out that despite the industry’s heavy reliance on open-source projects and those who maintain them, most contributors and maintainers have not been paid for their work. While 78% have not been paid for their contributions to open-source, a majority believe that open-source contributions should be paid.

Also, the Great Resignation is most likely to continue in 2022 in India with a whopping 86 per cent of employees planning to resign in the next six months, recruitment agency Michael Page stated in a report last week.

The report showed that about 61 per cent of employees in India are willing to accept a lower salary or forgo a pay rise and/or a promotion to focus on better work-life balance, overall well-being and happiness.

"According to our data, not only has it already been taking place for the last two years sparked by the global pandemic 2022 will only see it intensify," Michael Page stated in its report titled The Great X.

The report further notes that the trend may continue across markets, industries, degrees of seniority, and age groups.

Also, a LinkedIn report early this year showed that with 82% considering changing jobs in 2022. Based on responses of 1,111 professionals, the survey showed that people plan to leave their current jobs due to poor work-life balance (30%), not enough money (28%), or greater career ambitions (23%). When looking for new roles, professionals in India cited flexible working arrangements will be top priority.

However, the increasing digital transformation and the dearth of talent has created a struggle for companies to deliver fast. Also, this has in turn brought heavy pressure on IT departments to rejig operation fast, while retaining tech talent.