Most South African software developers have Computer Science degrees, however, it is not the only qualification that will land you a job as a software developer in South Africa.
Most South African software developers have Computer Science degrees, however, it is not the only qualification that will land you a job as a software developer in South Africa.
According to OfferZen’s State of the Software Developer Nation report — based on a survey of over 3,500 local developers — 36% of South African software developers did not study Computer Science.
OfferZen and Codehesion said that there are several in-demand fields of study that favour prospective software developers, including:
BEng in Electrical, Computer, and Mechatronics
BSc Multimedia
BCom informatics
B Information Systems (BIS) and Information Technology (BIT)
The companies also told MyBroadband that candidates don’t necessarily need a tertiary degree to land a job as a software developer.
They said there is a noticeable demand in the industry for self-taught candidates.
“Talent comes from different avenues in tech, as there are so many sources available for candidates to upskill themselves,” said Codehesion CEO Hector Beyers.
“Codehesion has successful employees from different learning paths. Some candidates are self-taught, while others have gone through tertiary education,” he added.
OfferZen’s report showed that one in four (25%) South African developers taught themselves to code.
“These developers used resources such as online tutorials and courses, side projects, and coding sites,” said OfferZen VP of communities Stephen van der Heijden.
Whether you’ve completed a degree or are a self-taught software developer, ensuring you have experience in the relevant programming languages is important.
According to OfferZen and Codehesion, South African companies are currently recruiting candidates that have skills and experience in the following languages:
C#
Ruby
Python
JavaScript
Experience with the React and Angular JavaScript frameworks are also sought-after skills for South African companies at the moment.
Other favourable qualifications include experience in the following platforms and frameworks:
React Native
Ruby on Rails
AWS
.NET
Considering these competencies, OfferZen also provided the most-listed positions at South African companies over the last three months:
DevOps Engineer
Architect
Ruby Engineer
Java Engineer
.NET Engineer
Engineering Team Lead
While it might seem that there is a significant demand for software developers — especially since the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged an increase in online activities and the adoption of working remotely — it is not so clear-cut.
“It’s hard to say whether there’s an overall under- or oversupply of developers in the market. We find that for senior developers, the demand is consistently increasing, and salaries are showing 19% YoY increases,” said van der Heijden.
“Amongst juniors, however, salaries haven’t increased to the same extent,” he added.
According to Google’s Africa Developer Ecosystem Report, junior developer salaries decreased in 2021.
Google attributed the decline to an “oversupply of junior developers and perceived lower competence levels”.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many developers sought remote positions for international companies — but they are now returning.
“Codehesion has seen applications coming through from these candidates as more developers feel disconnected working remotely for international companies,” said Beyers.
He also said that “they are now opting for more local roles to feel more connected and to up-skill quicker”.
According to van der Heijden, another factor that complicates the demand for developers is the speed at which the skills needed to become an in-demand developer change.
“In our experience, we’ve noticed that developers need to learn new skills every few months to keep up — meaning that for every job posting, it’s limited to the seniority, location, and tech stack of that role,” said van der Heijden.
MyBroadBand
