For a long time, software engineering was a very stable career. Hired recently released its 2020 State of Software Engineers Report, which offers stats on who’s hiring, for what roles, what they’re paying, how the pay breaks down by geography, and more. Demand for frontend and backend engineers grew 17% in 2019. The total number of software developers rose from 23 million in 2018 to 26.4 million at the end of 2019. American companies added 104,000 IT workers to their rolls in 2019. Companies are hiring IT talent across the board, with 67% of IT managers saying they plan to expand their teams in 2020.
Most developers are used to employers fighting over them, offering more pay and perks to compete for scarce talent. But experts have been issuing warnings about an impending global recession for years. Now, COVID-19 has pushed fast-forward on an economic reckoning, causing layoffs, furloughs, and hiring freezes.