The Business Times (Garage)
March 22, 2022
THE global shortage of software developers is sending the tech industry into a tailspin, with average salaries ballooning and companies resorting to poaching tech talent from one another.
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The flurry of interest is underscored by an urgency among companies to manage the strain on their tech resources. In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting that the shortage of engineers will exceed 1.2 million by 2026.
Countries in Asia are facing the strain too. Software developer hubs such as India and Vietnam are no longer easy-fixes for offshore hiring - wages are climbing and competition intensifying amid an explosion of tech unicorns.
In Singapore, over 78 per cent of job listings last year for software engineers sought experienced hires, according to a report by talent platform NodeFlair and tech investor Quest Ventures. Those in lead roles commanded as much as S$15,950 monthly.
Startup founders are competing against the likes of tech giants ByteDance and Shopee, with some perceiving these players as having skewed the market with outsized compensation packages.
