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Java developers: High in demand, low on loyalty

Java developers are hot commodities, but for how long?

By Anil Hemrajani, JavaWorld.com, 01/05/01

When I began coding with Java back in September 1995, I instantly fell in love with it. I had been a software engineer for many years and worked with languages such as C, C++, Unix shell scripting, and SQL. I could tell right away that Java was more than just a fad. My first program was a rudimentary text editor developed using AWT, java.io, and the java.net.URL class (for CGI GET/POST functionality). This program ran perfectly on both Solaris and Windows without the need to recompile. The simplicity and robustness of the language amazed me.

Now that I've written hundreds of thousands of lines of Java code, I know that Java is also secure, Internet-ready, and highly scalable -- all the buzzwords Java's creators first proclaimed. These are probably the same reasons Java has become very popular for small and large applications. This popularity has of course created the high demand for Java developers.

The employee's perspective

If you have worked in the IT industry for some time now, you know that IT workers come in at least three flavors: regular employees, independent contractors, and consultants employed by solution firms. Many employees have ventured into the contracting world in recent years in order to have the flexibility of picking their own assignments and to receive higher hourly wages. On the flip side, many contractors become regular employees of companies, mainly because they don't like moving from job to job and they want to play a larger role in helping to build a company. Stock options are another draw.

The employer's perspective

The Internet, a virtual world of various technologies, requires technical people of all levels to assemble solutions. This need has significantly raised the demand for Java programmers as well as Perl and Microsoft developers. The need to rewrite non-Y2K-compliant applications also increased the demand for developers. The competition among companies -- both venture-funded start-ups and large companies with plenty of resources -- to hire qualified programmers has been intense and has led to higher salaries and sign-up bonuses.

The supply and demand problem

With the demand for experienced Java developers far exceeding the supply, companies have tried to lure people with inflated wages. Both salaries and hourly rates have jumped as high as 40 percent in the past year. I've even seen job ads for EJB developers that include sign-up bonuses such as a BMW or 5,000 in cash. With companies fighting for the same pool of people and attracting them with these higher wages and sign-up bonuses, many developers seem to have forgotten basic business ethics and lost the sense of loyalty to their employers. We see contractors leave before contracts are completed and employees walk away one month after being hired. Developers have become extremely picky about the technologies they work with and are less concerned with the culture of the company and long-term employment. For example, some Java developers will only do EJB work -- and insist on WebLogic EJB work at that!

 

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