“The world has made the decision to go hybrid and remote, I have a lot of confidence given the data I have seen that that is a one-way train that has left the station…”
-Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO of Stack Overflow
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed not only the way that we work but the places we work from. Remote and hybrid work became the new norm when the pandemic forced the majority of non-essential employees into working from home. However, this shift wasn’t a shocking change for all industries. Even prior to the pandemic, the majority of software developers preferred a hybrid or remote work environment. Regardless, most development teams were forced to go fully remote in 2020. Today, 85% of developers say their organizations are at least partially remote.
Now, more than ever, software developers are seeking remote work, with 86% choosing to work outside of the traditional office. According to the 70,000 developers that responded to the May 2022 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, most developers are currently working remotely and favor a flexible working environment. Work flexibility is now more highly valued than ever since the majority of software developers are working remotely at least a portion of the time.
In a survey done by WFH Research with 5,000 respondents, 73 percent of workers reported that they were looking for a hybrid work culture in which they have more flexibility and freedom about where and when they work. In another recent survey, nearly half of IT professionals reported that they feel working remotely is a “must-have” feature.
Keeping in mind the lessons they learned during the pandemic, many businesses have begun to adopt a hybrid or remote work culture. A 2021 Terminal survey found that the top causes of the shift to remote work include:
The survey also uncovered that 46% of developers would consider moving home or to a less costly city as a result of working remotely. Remote work combats costly living expenses by allowing developers to work from any location.
The number of professional developers that are independently employed increased by 5% this year alone, taking it to 17%. Flexibility is one of the leading contributors to overall happiness at work, and the lack of it may be a reason that more developers are opting for self-employment.
The benefits of remote work have both professional and personal implications. Almost 70% of developers report being more productive at home with a quiet environment and fewer interruptions than the office space. The same group claims that remote work positively impacts work-life balance and reduces stress.
Other surveys have found that many developers would even be willing to take a pay cut, some as much as $30k a year, just to work from home permanently.
It isn’t easy to find, recruit, and retain high-level talent. However, with the recent shift towards more remote and hybrid work, comes more opportunities for companies to attract their ideal candidates.
When it comes to retention, it is important for companies to offer growth opportunities and not overwork employees. Now, more than ever, candidates want to ensure that companies value work-life balance.
Communication is one of the most important factors in attracting and retaining ideal tech talent. The head of developer productivity and happiness at LinkedIn, Jared Green, says, “Employee insights will be critical in a hybrid world. The ability to evaluate an employees satisfaction and take steps to make their life better is a powerful tool, especially in a hybrid workplace where communication in innately disjointed.”
Additionally, when working from a hybrid workforce, it’s imperative for employers to build a highly inclusive work environment where all team members, whether in-office or remote, have the same access to resources, technology, and avenues of communication.
Employers must not forget remote employees when operating within a hybrid workforce. Impromptu decisions and informal meetings can create instances where remote employees feel overlooked and undervalued.
The most effective way to build inclusivity in a hybrid workplace is to create consistency in processes, like committing to all virtual client meetings and making sure all employees have the same opportunities for career advancement whether or not they are physically present in the office.
It is also beneficial for employers to be strategic about the onboarding process in order to ensure all the team members are able to get to know each other. Many hybrid workplaces choose to create a mostly virtual onboarding process for software engineers regardless of if they will work in the office or remotely.
While the workforce continues to embrace remote opportunities, businesses are now more willing than ever to outsource for top talent. There are three types of software developer outsourcing options available:
Onshore or local outsourcing means hiring talent within your own country.
Offshore outsourcing means recruiting team members from different countries and time zones. This is often the model most associated with outsourcing and typically is done with far-away countries like India and China.
Nearshore outsourcing combines the advantages of the other two options through reduced costs, similar time zones, and lower travel expenses by hiring contractors from a neighboring country like Costa Rica or Honduras.
Many companies no longer see location as a barrier to recruitment and will consider applications from candidates who are not local. The reasons for embracing a more remote workforce center on benefits like job satisfaction, retention, flexibility, reduced costs, and even environmental benefits.
number8 is a rapidly growing software development staffing firm located in Louisville, Kentucky with nearshore offices in San Jose, Costa Rica, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. number8 has partnered with a large variety of businesses including small tech startups, Fortune 100 companies, and international corporations with experience spanning across industries including healthcare, finance, technology, and more.
number8’s most popular service is staff augmentation. In this service, number8 supplements established development teams with top nearshore consultants. number8 consultants are able to join any development team and be productive from day one.
number8 consultants pull from the same queue, work on the same schedule, and perform at the same level expected from the internal team they are matched to. These benefits along with the affordability of nearshore software development and the limitless talent pool in Latin America make number8 one of the best choices that businesses can make in order to attract top talent and scale their development teams in the growing hybrid work landscape.
To learn more, visit www.number8.com.
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