Here at ACT | The App Association, we make a habit of watching HBO’s Silicon Valley for a weekly dose of startup hilarity. While the show is based in the Bay Area, it provides a fairly accurate portrayal of the challenges and triumphs experienced by app makers across the country.
A recent episode highlighted something we know all too well: the fierce competition to attract and retain skilled software developers.
For those who don’t watch the show, here’s a quick recap (without going into too much detail for those who do):
The heroes of the show run a budding startup called Pied Piper. When the team faces some differences with the new CEO, one of their few, coveted developers decides to quit. Within minutes of changing his LinkedIn status to “looking for work,” he is contacted by scores of recruiters and simply answers the phone with, “dazzle me.”
Dazzle him, they do. Without lifting a finger, a constant stream of swag baskets from a myriad of Valley titans is delivered, filling the room with hoverboards, a new Oculus, tubs of popcorn, and a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year. In the interest of accuracy, he relents to a meeting to get his paws on the Pappy.
The lengths companies go to hire this developer makes for good laughs on TV, but this scene is much closer to reality than fiction. Finding software developers is serious business.
Throughout the United States, perks like generous vacations, masseurs, and on-site gourmet meals are standard for tech companies trying to hire and retain skilled developers. And those benefits are complemented by salaries that average $102,160 nationwide.
It all sounds great if you’re a developer with these skills, but the house full of gifts in Silicon Valley brings light to a growing problem. Even though software development jobs are some of the most well-compensated, rewarding positions, there are more than a half-million unfilled computing jobs today. In the next four years, that number will grow to 960,000 job openings with only 344,000 graduates to fill them, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The root of this talent war can be traced to the lack of computer science classes in our schools. Only a quarter of primary and secondary schools offer relevant courses, even though 77 percent of jobs will require technology skills over the next decade.
This creates a cascading effect where companies eagerly trying to grow their teams have trouble finding candidates with the necessary skills. And it’s especially challenging for smaller companies, which make 82 percent of the top grossing apps. One software engineer at a startup often supports an entire team.
Last month, tech leaders, governors, and educators came together to urge Congress to prioritize computer science in our public school curricula. This month we have pop culture comics demonstrating the serious demand for skilled software developers.
It’s time for computer science education to become a national priority so every child can qualify for these lucrative careers. Our economy, and that of future generations, depends on it.
Image: Far Enough / license / cropped