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January 2022 - Information Technology

Technical recruiters are hiring more software developers from non-academic backgrounds: A global survey of technical recruiters and software developers by CoderPad and CodinGame, has found that the number of recruiters hiring developers from non-academic backgrounds has risen to 39% from just under a quarter (23%) last year. 

The annual research, which polled 14,000 software developers and technical recruiters from 130 countries, also found that more than half are open to a recruitment process that does not require traditional CVs, with many preferring to recruit talent using skills-based tests with practical coding questions (77%) and live coding interviews (76%).

These methods are also favourable in addressing bias issues in the recruitment process, something which almost two-thirds of recruiters believe is a problem (65%).

The Tech Hiring Survey 2022 revealed that two-fifths of recruiters (40%) are seeking developers from around the globe for roles, thus widening the talent pool, while 42% have started to hire more contingent workers over the last 12 months, the research found.

Two-fifths of the software developers polled (40%) said they did not learn to code at an engineering school or at university, highlighting the potential to miss out on talent if recruitment processes do not target candidates from non-academic backgrounds.

When asked about bias and diversity, 42% of recruiters said they use skill-based assessment in the recruitment process to improve diversity, followed by implementing equal pay (32%), proactively sourcing diverse candidates (29%), implementing a strict anti-harassment policy (28%), and increasing awareness of unconscious bias and/or training (28%).

Asked about the top three skills they have been hiring for in the last year, recruiters said, web development, DevOps and AI/machine learning, while software developers are most interested in learning AI/machinery, web development and game development. 

The most in-demand positions for recruiters are full-stack developers and back-end developers, according to the polling, with more than half the recruiters surveyed reporting a higher budget to hire developers in 2022.

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