If you are a good .NET developer I suspect your inbox and voice mail have been blowing up for weeks (if not months). It seems like every Microsoft shop in the city needs a developer. And while employers are certainly feeling the pain of a drained resource market, it also seems there's finally people out there ready (or close to ready) to make a change.
I read an article this week at Network World that projects 54% of 'disgruntled' IT workers will seek new employment. It didn't say what made them 'disgruntled', but it goes on to say that 41% of IT employees feel they have been left behind in their jobs because of the poor economy.
Market demand for software engineers in general has been increasing since Q3 of 2010 and certainly all indications are it will continue to grow in 2012. Currently unemployment in the IT sector is 2.7% according to Network World (a full 3% points below what's considered "full employment"). The question is if we still have 9% unemployment why is the IT sector so robust?
In my opinion this supply/demand imbalance is a combination of factors related to how business operates and how people make decisions. It started in late 2008 / 2009 when the job market crashed. Companies are in business to make profit. The single biggest cost to a business is their employees, so when profits start to wane employers reduce their workforce. For the first time in their history, some companies that had prided themselves on providing a stable employment platform suddenly had to swallow that pride in the name of survival. The press hit the panic button, unemployment soared to nearly double-digits and all of a sudden there was a tempest in the employment teapot. The days of working for a single employer for 25 years and retiring with a nice pension were over.
When it became obvious the economy was not going to recover quickly a new term arrived that the New York Times called "The New Normal". Their story from the summer of 2010 references the Great Depression. Employers either by choice or necessity, simply had to do more with less. That means new initiatives were put on hold and the people left in the organization were 'taxed to the max' (you Tower of Power fans will get that reference). Real or not, the perception was the employer was taking advantage of the economic situation and the employee's only alternative was to join the ranks of job seekers who were taking an average of 250+ days to secure employment. Not exactly the type of "low risk" environment that is conducive to considering a change of employers. So here we are in 2012 where overall unemployment still hovers around 9%. There's still a perception that making the wrong move could result in a prolonged period of unemployment.
Reality (at least in the IT world) is there are more opportunities than people looking. Which is why I think Ms Marsan at Network World is spot-on. I've been optimistic about the market for well over a year and a half. Organizations that generally do not use agencies are calling us for help. A skilled software developer is like the hot Christmas gift that is sold the minute it hits the shelf. There's a hoard of HR and recruiters at the front of "Engineers are Us" waiting for the Black Friday sale to start.
Companies can see blue sky through the clouds. Banks are loaning money again. Software has a shelf-life, you can't run your .NET 2.0 applications forever. They're ready to replace the COTS system that is 7 versions old running on green screens (which still exist). Projects that have been on hold for months (or even years) need to get done. Now. That means hiring analysts, managers, engineers, testers, and anyone else necessary to deliver and support these systems.
So take heart IT professionals. Demand is high. Employers are getting very creative to attract and retain top talent. There's even a small company in South Carolina that will give you a $50,000 cash bonus on your five year anniversary. The market needs you when you're ready.
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