NEW YORK, March 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Stack Overflow, the world’s largest online community for programmers to learn, share their knowledge and advance their careers, today released the 2016 Developer Hiring Landscape. With more than 50,000 responses fielded from 173 countries, it is the most comprehensive survey of the programmer workforce ever.

This year’s report looks across industry segments ranging from software development and web services to more traditional sectors like manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and defense to show that developers truly are in high demand everywhere.

“If you’re trying to hire the best tech talent at any level, understanding the developers you want to attract is the single most critical step,” said Stack Overflow VP Jay Hanlon. “And with more than 40 million monthly visitors, asking 11 thousand questions per day, Stack Overflow can provide employers with unmatched insights into the most comprehensive, generous community of developers in the world.”

What Employers and Recruiters Need to Know
To attract and hire the best developers, employers need insight into what motivates developers, how their education and skills are evolving and where they look for new opportunities. Key findings from this year’s survey provide several insights into these topics. Specific results include:

• Even though 9 in 10 developers reported being “gainfully employed,” over three quarters of them still said they were open to new job opportunities.
• While almost a quarter of developers discovered their current jobs through recruiters, even more — 28.14 percent — found their employers via referrals from friends.
• The number of developers receiving formal or professional training is on the decline. Instead, developers are learning to code in a variety of different ways. Last year, 42 percent of developers said they were self-taught, which rose to 70 percent this year. Recruiters can no longer judge developers based on the degree they have on their resume.
• 61 percent of survey respondents said salary is the one thing they most care about when evaluating a new job opportunity. This was followed by work/life balance (52 percent) and company culture (42.5 percent).

The Developer Demographic
Based on research conducted for the Developer Hiring Landscape, developers don’t always refer to themselves as such. You’ll often see them called programmers, engineers and even rock stars (but don’t use that term; they hate it). Here’s a look at some of the other survey results of the average developer:

• While over half of all global developers are in their twenties, the age demographics in the U.S. are skewing older, with 40 percent of U.S. respondents in their twenties and 30 percent in their thirties.
• Survey data suggests that men and women get paid about the same as entry-level developers, but the pay gap may widen, with men earning more, as both gain experience.
• 69 percent of US developers surveyed said they somewhat agree or agree completely that diversity in the workplace is an important issue.
• The median salary of US developers surveyed ranged from $65,000 to $145,000 based on their occupation.

To download a free copy of the 2016 Developer Hiring Landscape or find out more about how Stack Overflow helps employers find and recruit developers, please visit http://business.stackoverflow.com/careers.