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US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

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Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#31

Post by [deleted] »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #15
dc-programmer wrote: post #2

“Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer to hire developers who have a master’s degree.“ Interesting that the government continues to peddle credentialism for software developers. I personally think a CS degree is still a strong positive signal but it’s hardly a requirement anymore

I mean - you're going to be incredibly hard pressed to get an interview at FAANG with no work experience and no degree. But, yes, if you're willing to work your way up the ladder - you don't need any school. You can probably get a good job faster by graduating from a good school, though.

[deleted]

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#32

Post by silvestrov »

enjoylife wrote: post #20

> Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 25 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations. 10 years is a long enough time horizon in tech for any number of inflection points to occur. My bet is this swings heavily in the downward direction as more specialization in the industry occurs, the usage of the title "software devel…

Also consolidation of companies: instead of 20 smallish companies, you now get 2 big companies. Less developers for same amount of functionality.

(at least what I see in vacation business)

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#35

Post by shagie »

dc-programmer wrote: post #2

“Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer to hire developers who have a master’s degree.“ Interesting that the government continues to peddle credentialism for software developers. I personally think a CS degree is still a strong positive signal but it’s hardly a requirement anymore

The credential for the job listing is related to the treaties and visas for people applying to work in the US.

If the job listing on the BLS didn't specify that it needed a degree, then the software developer wouldn't fall under the H-1B or the TN visa. Instead of the H-1B (which is a specialist worker) it software developer would fall under the H-2B and anyone (degree or not) could get a visa because no skills are required... however that also means that it would fall into the "one time occurrence", "seasonal need", "peak load need" or "intermittent need" for people working on the H-2B visa.

Another "this makes things interesting" with a switch from a specialist worker to a non-specialist one, is that there is a list of countries that may apply to work on a H-2B visa... and it doesn't include India.

---

The job listing defined by one agency BLS has impacts on the way people can get visas and which visas.

Removing the degree requirement would effectively make it so that there are no even marginally qualified applications with a visa.

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#36

Post by lotsofpulp »

rr888 wrote: post #4

25% growth in the next ten years? Isn't that a slowdown in growth? I seem to remember the Uncle Bob video where # of devs is doubling every 5 years or so. OTOH I feel we're at peak now, the investment money is drying up and management will force efficiencies going forward.

BLS projections about individual jobs and payrates are a joke.

They had pharmacist as a growth career at +10% from 2010 to 2020, whole year after year, entry level and hourly payrates went down, easily verifiable by reading online forums. How can that be?

Then in 2020, they finally changed it to -3% growth, but due to the pandemic measures and people quitting the field, payrates have actually gone up.

They should be reporting changes in pay by quintile or even decile. And the new laws in CO/WA/CA/NYC requiring pay ranges in job listings should make it much easier to see which way supply and demand curves are moving in near real time.

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#37

Post by lordnacho »

tra3 wrote: post #23

I've been startled to find out that the global population is stabilizing or is actually reducing [0]. To me that means that any shortages that are apparent now (and Software Dev shortage has been trumpeted about for years) will continue into the future. If you look at the demographics of US [1], you see that dip below the age of 30, so there are fewer folks coming online to take the jobs of the people retiring. Of co…

But this is a skilled profession. How relevant is it that there are fewer young people in general?

Should we expect the number of top basketball players to stagnate as well?

I get that there's far more software jobs than Pro sports, but is it relevant that world population is coming down? You'd think perhaps something like the number of CS graduates might matter most.

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#38

Post by spacemadness »

beckingz wrote: post #17

"Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 25 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations." Job Security. As long as you learn whatever new fad frameworks replace React.

For webdev. There are other areas of software than web. It’s hard to tell that’s true reading HN sometimes.

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#39

Post by ndriscoll »

irrational wrote: post #25
dc-programmer wrote: post #2

“Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer to hire developers who have a master’s degree.“ Interesting that the government continues to peddle credentialism for software developers. I personally think a CS degree is still a strong positive signal but it’s hardly a requirement anymore

Anymore? When was a CS degree a positive signal? I don’t work with any programmers who have a CS degree (or even a STEM degree). Most of us have been in the field for 20+ years. We have degrees in ancient history, music performance, educational psychology, linguistics, etc. I read thousands of resumes over the years and have never paid any attention to what someone studied in college.

It's certainly a positive signal vs. not having a degree, in that the probability that they understand the topics that a CS degree covers is higher. Of course it's not a guarantee that they understand that content, and people without CS degrees can also teach themselves using books, online lectures, etc. And of course it's a young field, so more experienced people without degrees may have invented some of the contents of those books.

A masters degree is probably a negative signal though unless they did something completely unrelated like music for undergrad, in which case it's similar to a BS.

Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers

#40

Post by minsc_and_boo »

tra3 wrote: post #23

I've been startled to find out that the global population is stabilizing or is actually reducing [0]. To me that means that any shortages that are apparent now (and Software Dev shortage has been trumpeted about for years) will continue into the future. If you look at the demographics of US [1], you see that dip below the age of 30, so there are fewer folks coming online to take the jobs of the people retiring. Of co…

I don't think population growth is a strong indicator of demand or supply for specialized services like SWEs.

For example, automation can remove one type of labor and increase the supply for services labor, like the combustion engine w/ agriculture. Also you can have increased demand by the popularization of new software interfaces, like smart phones or AR.

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