Software Developers: +26% (change in number of jobs in the next 10 years)
Data Scientists: +31% https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/data-scientists.htm
US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
91–100 of 115 posts
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#9225% 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.
There's a big difference between A Peak and The Peak. Cobblers hit The Peak of their employment numbers long in the past; but software still dominates the world. What I've observed: Uninvested VC funds are still at extremely high levels (or as those in the industry call it: dry powder) [1]. There's some sources which report that aggregate counts are down relative to 2021, but only marginally; its still higher than 20…
> Combine that with smart real estate investments or passive income and there's a significant tranche of software engineers who are biting at the bit for a bull market to come around; then retire;
Yeah its fascinating. Its a good reason the CBs want to hike rates, reset asest prices and get back to work. :)
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#93“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
That statement is 100% accurate. One does typically need a related bachelors to be considered for a typical software job. There are absolutely places with more progressive hiring practices, but this is not the norm. If you apply to XYZ Corp in any random city or town, they will have “bachelors in computer science or related degree” in the requirements section of the job posting.
> If you apply to XYZ Corp in any random city or town, they will have “bachelors in computer science or related degree” in the requirements section of the job posting.
Of course, the purpose of a job advertisement is to compel workers to apply. Companies don't write "bachelors degree" because they expect you to have a bachelors degree, they make note it because if you have a bachelors degree it will pique your interest: "Wait, I have a bachelors degree! I should apply."
One of those fun marketing tricks.
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
For webdev. There are other areas of software than web. It’s hard to tell that’s true reading HN sometimes.
Incidentally, web developers are a different job classification. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/... and https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151254.htm
Projected to grow a mere 23%.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I don't have enough data or insight, but the global trends seem like a good indicator. More people are retiring than joining the workforce AND there's already a shortage, so my thinking is the shortage will continue to grow assuming the demand remains stable or grows. In China, there are 10 people currently working for every retiree. By 2030 it will drop to 2 people per retiree.
I don't think there are more people retiring than entering the workforce in software specifically though, only because the field has grown significantly over the last 2 decades. 4 decades ago it was less common for people to study computing or computer science (many universities may not even have had the program).
Now, it's one of the most popular choices, and there are also many people entering the field without degrees (bootcamps and the awareness that software skills can be learned outside of a structured curriculum weren't so common over 10 years ago).
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#96Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#97The last few companies I've worked for had zero testers or QA analysts. Testing was a side job for developers and product folks.
QA never meshed well with me. Their job seemed to be gaining context on what I was working on and then testing it for me, but if they caught a bug it was on me. QA catching something was treated as a negative reflection on the dev, so we still exhaustively tested everything before it got too QA, which made them seem pretty redundant.
No post body was provided.
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Incidentally, web developers are a different job classification. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/... and https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151254.htm
Projected to grow a mere 23%. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...
One of the neat things to look at on the OES page is the location quotient.
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151254.htm
This gives an indication of "compared to other jobs in that area, how many jobs are filled by people with this classification... compared to the national average of that ratio."
You can then use that information, for a person looking for a job, to search those locations for jobs as it is more likely to find those jobs there.
The "create customized tables" https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/home if you want a larger data set than the summary on the OES page.
You could a "for web developers, all metro areas, give me the employment, median wage, and location quotient" and then get that as a csv file which could then be sliced and diced again.
Remember that the wages are (1) based on a survey of 200,000 companies and (b) an estimate beyond that number. This is not self reported data. It is akin to how the CPI is calculated ( https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1015804773 ).
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#99“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 have not seen any correlation between a person’s abilities as a developer and their university credentials.
I second this. I’ve seen great developers with degrees, and awful developers with degrees. And haven’t noticed one more than the other.
Just that I’m more surprised when I see an awful dev with a degree, because they had years to study.
The thing I see is, either it clicks or it doesn’t. And when it does click, you can go deeper.
Re: US Job Outlook for Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
#10025% 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.
I like Uncle Bob’s writing, but that number is just wrong. On the same BLS site you can grab the numbers: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#15-0000 In 2000 there were 1.2M people working in programming or closely related professions by my count. In 2021 there were 1.8M. Things are a little weird because they changed some definitions, but I think that I’m taking the stronger case. 25% growth in the US is act…
I found a source, https://youtu.be/ecIWPzGEbFc?t=3100 is a video where he says this.