2024SouthAfricaReport

Hiring&retainingdevelopersina

shiftingtechlandscape

Contents

3Introduction

4

Jobsearchbehaviour

Developersarelesshappyintheircurrentjobs.

Jumptochapter→

10Compensationpackages

Developerspushbackagainstshrinkingjobpackages.

Jumptochapter→

16AIinhiring

AIisforcingcompaniestochangetheirhiringprocesses.

Jumptochapter→

20Bonuscontent

Getatemplatetohelpyoucalculatehiringcosts.

Calculateyourhiringcosts→

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Introduction

It’sunsurprisingthatdevelopersareunhappywiththecomedown.Farfewerdevelopersareconfidentintheircurrentjob’sgrowthpotentialandmorethanathirdarelookingtomovejobsin2024.Techcompaniesseemtobefacinganimpendingretentioncrisisiftheydon’ttakeproactivesteps.

Inthisreportwe’llbelookingatthesetrendsinmoredetail,andgiveyoutheplaybookforhiringandretaininggreatdevelopersinthisstormymarket.

Tosayit’sbeenarockyyearforthetechindustryisanunderstatement.

In2023,venturecapitalinvestmentsdecreasedfurther,makingitthehardestfundingyearofthedecade.It’snowathirdofwhatitwasinthepeakofthetechboom.Inordertoraisecapital,techcompanieshavehadtohitahigherbarwhileraisinglessmoneyatlowervaluations,whichledtocostcuttings

thataffectedmanydevelopers.Wecouldseecompaniespassingsomeofthispressureontotheiremployees:

PhilipJoubert

OfferZenCo-founder

?OneintwentySAdeveloperswereretrenchedin2023,almostdoubletheratein2022.

?Salarieshavestagnated.

?17%ofdeveloperssawtheirpolicychangeawayfrombeingfullyremote.

?Manyperkshavebeendowngraded.

Youmightthinkthismeansit’seasytohiretoptechtalent,butit’snotthecaseformostcompanies.Hiringdevelopersisnowmerelydifficultinadifferent

way.Whereaspreviouslycompaniesstruggledtogetaccesstotoptalent,nowthey’restrugglingwithhighvolumesofinboundandlow-qualitycandidates.

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AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

Developersareless

happy·intheircurrentjobs·

Expecthigherattritionasdeveloperslookelsewhereforgrowth.

.。

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Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Isthegrassalwaysgreener?

Moredevelopersareplanningtoleavein2024

WhileSouthAfricahaslargelybeenabletoavoidmassretrenchments,therateofretrencheddevelopersalmostdoubledfrom2022to2023:Overthepast12months,1in20SouthAfricandeveloperswereretrenched.

Giventhetougheconomicenvironmentandincreasedriskofpotential

retrenchmentsatanewcompany,onecouldassumethatdevelopers

wouldbereluctanttochangejobs.However,atleastintermsoftheirstatedintention,thisdoesn’tseemtobethecase.

Developersareevenmoreeagerfornewopportunitiesthanlastyear:33.3%ofdeveloperssaytheywanttomovejobsthisyearorarealreadylooking,

comparedto29.8%in2023.

Anditlookslikeeveninadifficultmarket,theyarenotstrugglingtoomuchtofindopportunitieselsewhere.Ofthosedeveloperswhowereretrenched,mostareaveraging1-3monthstofindnewwork,with26%takinglessthanamonthtolandanewjob.

Let’shavealookatsomeotherreasonswhysomanydevelopersareplanningtomoveondespitethedifficultjobmarket.

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Currentlylooking

Wantstomovejobsin3-12months

Samecompanynextyear

Samecompanyintwoyears’time

Samecompanyinfiveyears’time

Noneoftheabove

8.4%

8.8%

21.4%

24.5%

16.2%

15.9%

25.3%

22.7%

26.3%

25.3%

2.0%

3.0%

Developers’jobsearchtimelines

2023

2024

Lessthan1month

1-3months

3-6months

6-12months

Morethan12months

I’mstilllooking

26.0%

15.6%

5.3%

2.3%

20.4%

30.4%

Ifretrenched,howlongdidittakeyoutofindanewrole?

6

AIinhiring

Bonuscontent

Jobsearchbehaviour

Compensationpackages

Developerssearchformorelucrativesalaries

Inresponsetofinancialpressure,mostcompaniesprefertodolayoffsoverreducingwagesofexistingteamsduringarecession,becausetheywanttoprotectteammoraleandstaycompetitive.

Wecanalsoseethisinthedata—bothyearonyearsalarybandgrowthandannualsalaryincreaseshavesloweddownascompaniesfocusedalltheir

effortsonprofitability.

However,theknock-oneffectisclearwhenitcomestoretention:Thetop

reasondevelopersleavetheirrolesremainsinadequatecompensation,whichisespeciallyimportantforseniordevelopers.Inlightofthis,youneedtobe

proactiveaboutretentionbeforeyourtopperformersleave.

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Junior

Intermediate

Senior

Techleadormanagement

Bettersalary

Poormanagement

Lackofcareerprogression

opportunities

Lackofgrowthand/orlearningopportunities

Poorwork-lifebalance

Uncertaincompanyoutlook

Moreexcitingrole

Betterbenefits

42.4%

54.0%

54.1%

47.8%

30.3%

42.7%

47.0%

54.3%

29.5%

31.5%

32.0%

35.5%

29.6%

31.3%

30.3%

28.3%

23.4%

27.6%

31.7%

35.3%

11.6%

17.3%

16.4%

20.3%

15.2%

16.5%

13.8%

19.0%

15.3%

16.0%

13.3%

9.5%

Whatarethetopreasonsyouwouldleaveajob?

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Goodwork-lifebalance,opportunitiesforgrowthandacompellingcompanyculturearetopreasonsfordeveloperstostayintheirroles.Ifyoudon’thavemuchwiggle-roominthesalarydepartment,makesureyouinvestinthe

pullfactorsthatmakeyourteamstayput.

“Whenwegointoaninterviewwithacandidate,weaddressthe

reasonstheymighthavelefttheirpreviouscompanies.We’ll

speakabouttheprogrammeswehaveintermsofdevelopment,

howweproactivelyreviewsalaries,wespeakaboutmentorship

programmes.Theseareallhooksforpeople.Thenwhenwegettotheofferstage,peoplemightgetslightlybiggeroffersfromothers,buttheywanttohearbackfromus.”

RubertoPaulo

DirectorofEngineering,PeachPayments

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Goodwork-lifebalance

Growthopportunities

Companyculture

Greatcolleagues

Earningpotential

Currentsalary

Greatbenefits

Clearcareerpath

Cuttingedgetechstack

Uncertaintyinjobmarket

Companymission

Economicuncertainty

Equity

58.0%

54.9%

48.7%

47.1%

45.5%

44.6%

37.9%

39.9%

44.3%

33.2%

25.4%

30.9%

29.7%

23.9%

16.9%

14.6%

17.1%

14.5%

6.7%

12.1%

12.1%

10.8%

6.1%

10.5%

8.3%

5.8%

Whatarethetopreasonsyouwouldstayatajob?

2023

2024

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Thepast12monthshaveleftdeveloperslesshappyintheircurrentroles

Overthepastyear,manycompaniesshiftedintoamindsetofleangrowth,underwentrestructuring,andadoptedtighterroadmaps.However,thesechangescanhaveseriousrepercussionsontheteam’smorale,buy-inandproductivity—weareseeingthebacklashplayoutin2024.

Moredevelopersfeelunhappyintheircurrentroles.Thenumberof

developersthatfeelconfidentabouttheirchancesofgrowingattheircompanyhasplungedfrom38%to33%.

Thisisreallysignificantbecausealackofgrowthopportunitiesranksfourthasareasonthatdevelopersleavetheirroles.Weaskedthedevelopercommunitywhytheycurrentlyfeellessconfidentintheirgrowthpotential:Itturnsoutthatmanyseemtohavelosttrustintheirleadershipandexcitementintheroadmap.

Thisisespeciallyimportant,astheopportunitytoworkonnewlanguagesandframeworkshasgrowninimportanceasafactorforcareergrowth.

Stronglyagree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Stronglydisagree

38.0%

33.3%

33.7%

33.1%

18.0%

20.8%

6.5%

8.3%

3.5%

4.2%

Doyoufeellikeyoucandevelopyourcareeratyourcompany?

2023

2024

Lackingtrustinleadership53%

Fearoffurtherretrenchments13%

Smallertrainingbudgets6%

Theroadmapisnotexcitingme28%

Whathasbeenthebiggestcontributingfactortofeelingthatyoucan’tcontinuegrowingatyourcurrentcompany?

ViewpollonLinkedin→

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Earningpotential

Challengingprojects

Mentorshipopportunities

Newlanguagesandframeworks

Well-definedcareerpath

48.4%

48.4%

46.1%

45.5%

39.2%

39.8%

36.5%

39.0%

29.2%

30.5%

Mostimportantfactorsforcareerdevelopmentatacompany

2023

2024

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

“InthecurrentcIimate,youreaIIyneedtomakesureyour

teamsareorganisedeffectiveIy.Aspartofthat,itaIsomakessensetoinvestmoreinyourexistingteam’straining.They’reaIreadyuptospeedonyourcuItureandwaysofworking,andcanreaIIyheIpyousoIveyourbiggestprobIemsifyouset

themupright.”

NicBotes

HeadofEngineering,OfferZen

“OurLeveIUpsystemprovidesacIeardeveIopmenttrajectoryforeveryteammember,whethertheywanttobepeopIe

managersorspeciaIiseintechnoIogy.Asyoumoveup,you

getmoreresponsibiIityandmorepay.Weprovidementorshipandfrequentcheck-insfordeveIoperstokeepthemseIves一andusasacompany一accountabIetotheirgoaIs.”

SizweNdlovu

CTO,PineappIe

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AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

Developerspushbackagainst

shrinkingjobpackages··

Companiesarecuttingdownonperksandmoving

backtotheoffice.●

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Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Companiesarescalingbackonperks

Anothersignofcompaniesrelayingthepressureandexercisingtheir

newfoundpowerisinthescalingbackofperks.We’reseeingreductionsofperksacrosstheboardwithonlyafewexceptions,mostnotablybonuses.

Ascompaniesattempttokeeptheirwagebillsincheckbycurbingsalarygrowth,thispointstowardsanattempttostillrewarddevelopers.Bonusescouldalsobeespeciallyappealinginthecurrentmarket,sincetheyare

merelyaonce-offpaymentasopposedtoanongoingcostincrease.

It’snoticeablethatdevelopersseemtocarealotmoreaboutbenefitsthathaveadirectimpactontheirdaytodaythanmorelong-termmonetary

benefitslikeequity.

Bonuses

Medicalaid

Pension

Trainingbudgets

Specialallowances

48.8%

53.5%

35.4%

36.5%

32.5%

31.7%

26.8%

20.5%

25.4%

23.7%

Whatmonetarybenefitsdoyouhaveatyourcurrentjob?

2023

2024

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Bonuses

Medicalaid

Pension

Remotesetupbudget

Equity

66.1%

64.2%

60.4%

58.1%

45.9%

45.3%

22.7%

20.4%

23.3%

19.4%

Mostimportantmonetarybenefitswhenassessingapotentialjob

2023

2024

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Morecompaniesarepushingtoconnectface-to-face

WhileSouthAfricandevelopershavelargelyavoidedamassreturntothe

office,theyarestartingtoseeachangeintheirremotepolicies.Overthe

past12months,17%ofdeveloperssawtheirpolicychangeawayfrombeingfullyremote.

Thenumberofcompaniesthathaveadoptedahybridpolicyhasrisenfrom36%tonearly50%,inanillustrationofapushtoreturntotheoffice.

Whentakingacloserlookathowworkpolicieshavechangedoverthepast12months,thetrendbecomesevenclearer:30%ofdevelopersthatusedtobefullyremotearenowhybrid,while15%thatwerehybridarenowbackintheofficefull-time.Policiesrequiringdeveloperstobeinofficefull-timehasseenanuptickfrom7.9%to9.6%

Ontheothersideofthespectrum,fullyremotecompaniesaregoingallin:

Halfofdevelopersthatarefullyremotecanworkanywhereintheworld.

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56.2%

36.0%

49.6%

40.8%

7.9%

9.6%

HybridRemoteOfficeBased

Whatisyourcompany’sremoteworkpolicy?

2023

2024

20232024

Howhasyourremotepolicychangedinthepast12months?

Remote

Hybrid

Office

Seethefullbreakdownofdata

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Morethanhalfofdevelopersresolvetoquitifforcedto

returntotheoffice

Ifyourcompanyismakingtheshiftawayfromremote,consideritsimpactondeveloperretentionandyourteammembers’commitmenttotheirroles.

Wouldyouleaveyourjobifyouremployerrequiredyoutoreturntotheoffice?

No:47.7%

Yes:52.3%

Remoteoptionshaveshotupasthemostpopularnon-monetarybenefitin2024,risingfrom52.5%tonearly60%asthemostimportantperk.What’s

more,52.3%ofdeveloperssaytheywouldevenquittheirjobsifrequiredtogobacktotheoffice.Thisisespeciallytruefordevelopersthatarecurrentlyenjoyingthefreedomsofafullyremotesetup.

Itfollowsthatyoushouldinvolveyourteamsinthediscussionsofa

workplaceshiftandmakeheadingintotheofficeasattractiveaspossibleifitisarequirementforyourbusiness.Forexample,compensatingdevelopersfortheirtravelcostsandmakingyourofficehoursflexiblecouldgoalong

waytomakeareturntoofficemoreappealing.

Ontheotherhand,ifyouarearemotebusiness:Putitfrontandcentrein

yourjobadswhenhiring.Itcouldbeyoursecretweaponforcatchingtheeyeofqualitytalentseekingscarceremoteopportunities.

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Remoteoptions

Growthopportunities

Companytechstack

Companyculture

DailyworkI’ddo

Flexiblehours

Numberofleavedays

Travelopportunities

Company’sfinances

Workingonanimpactfulproduct

52.5%

59.3%

54.0%

54.3%

43.0%

43.4%

35.4%

37.3%

37.3%

33.2%

34.9%

29.4%

28.4%

27.9%

15.3%

20.0%

15.6%

16.9%

16.4%

15.8%

Top10non-monetaryfactorsforassessingajobopportunity

2023

2024

Dataonremote

policies

Needsomehelp?

Getmoredataonhowyourremotepolicyimpactshiringandretainingdevelopers.

Downloadthereport

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Bonuscontent

Jobsearchbehaviour

HowRTOimpactsdevs’feelingsabouttheirroles

It’snothardtoseewhydeveloperspreferremotewhenyoulookatthebenefits:Costsavingsandnocommutetopthelist.

Wealsoaskedourdevelopercommunityhowtheyfeelaboutbeingaskedtoreturntooffice.Thetakeaway?Areturntoofficecouldhaveserious

effectsonmotivationandinvestmentintheirroles.

Ifyou’vebeenaskedtogofromafullyremoteworkenvironmentbacktohybrid,howdidyoufeelabouttheshift?

Itmademerethinkmyjob

I’mhappierinmyrolenow Ithadnoeffectonme

ViewpollonLinkedin→

64%

15%

20%

I’mlookingforanewrole

HowhasanRTOpolicycausedyoutorethinkyourjob?

I’vemovedontoanewrole I’mstaying,butlessinvested I’mconsideringmyoptions

ViewpollonLinkedin→

44%

14%

7%

35%

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Costsavings

Nocommute

Moreflexibility

Betterwork-lifebalance

Increasedproductivity

Noofficedistractions

Locationindependence

Moretimewithfamily

Improvedmentalhealth

Betterjobsatisfaction

Accesstoaglobaljobmarket

12.7%

12.7%

11.7%

11.1%

10.3%

9.0%

8.3%

7.6%

7.2%

5.4%

3.8%

Whatarethemainbenefitsofremoteworkforyou?

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Bonuscontent

Jobsearchbehaviour

Seniordevshavetheirpickofmultipleoffers

Eventhoughemployershavetakenbackalotofcontrolinademand-

constrainedmarket,greatdevelopersarestillhardtocomeby.Companiesthatareactivelyhiringareeagertoonboardexperienceddeveloperswhocanhitthegroundrunning.Asaresult,seniordeveloperscontinuetohavetheirpickofopportunities.

Forskilleddeveloperstochooseyou,yourofferneedstostandout:Most

intermediateandseniorsdevelopersreceivebetween2-5offersintheir

jobsearch.What’smore,seniordevelopersarethemostlikelytobeonthelookoutforinternational,remoteopportunitiesorarealreadyworkingforaninternationalcompany.

Findseniordevelopers

Strugglingtohireseniors?

OnOfferZen,youcanfilterbyseniority,salary,techskillsandmoretofindtheperfectfitforyourteam.

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Junior

Intermediate

Senior

Techlead

41.4%

55.3%

3.2%

36.6%

56.2%

7.3%

36.0%

55.9%

8.1%

32.0%

57.8%

10.2%

Inyourlastjobsearch,howmanyjoboffersdidyoureceive?

1

2-5

>5

Junior

Intermediate

Senior

Techlead

53.8%

39.0%

4.7%

2.5%

53.3%

38.2%

5.4%

3.1%

57.4%

29.6%

9.8%

3.2%

55.4%

28.0%

13.8%

2.8%

Areyouopentoworkingforinternationalcompanies?

Yes,forremoteroles

Yes,andtorelocate

Ialreadydo

No,I’mnot

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

AIisforcingcompaniesto

changetheirhiringprocesses·

It’stimetostartthinkingaboutincorporatingAIinto

yourassessmentstrategy.

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AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

Onlinetestsdeclineas

companiesgrapplewithAI

In2024,employerswillneedtofigureouthowAIimpactstheirbusinesses—andhowtoadapttheirhiringprocesswhenassessingdevelopers.

AIischangingthewaydevelopers’technicalskillsareassessed.Thenumberofcompaniesusingonlinecodingchallengestoassessdevelopershas

fallen21.6%*overthepast12months,whilewhiteboardinterviewshavealsoseentheirpopularitydecline.Assessmentsthataremorereliantontesting

someone’sunderstandingoftechnicalproblems,liketake-homeassignmentsandtechnicalinterviews,haveremainedsteady.

*Percentagechangesarecalculatedastherelativedifferencebetweentwopercentagesandnotthedifferencebetweentwonumbers.

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2023

2024

Onlinecodingchallenge

Technicalphoneorvideointerview

Takehometechnicalassignment

Whiteboard

interview

Reviewingexistingcoderepository

Pairprogramming

Casepresentation

Theydidn’tassessmytechnicalskills

59.5%

47.9%

56.7%

56.4%

55.9%

55.2%

31.2%

24.2%

19.6%

19.9%

13.8%

15.4%

11.2%

11.2%

9.2%

10.5%

Howdopotentialemployersassessyourtechnicalskills?

Compensationpackages

AIinhiring

Bonuscontent

Jobsearchbehaviour

Mostcompaniesdon’thaveapolicyinplacefortheuseofAIinassessments

Asitstandsnow,mostcompaniesdon’tseemtohavesolidpoliciesinplacetoaddressthepotentialuseofAI.Only11%ofdevelopershaveexperiencedemployersbantheuseofAIintheirinterviewingprocess.

GiventherisingpopularityofAItoolsindevelopers’day-to-dayworkflow,it’sworthinvestigatinghowtoincorporateitintoyourhiringprocessinstead.

Inyourexperience,howhavecompaniesrespondedto

usingAIinthetechassessments?

Noexperienceyet:70.6%

Itwasallowed:18.3%

Itwasbanned11.1%

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“TheskillsrequiredtousetoolslikeCoPilotandChatGPT

aresomethingthatweneedtoembraceandaddtowhat

weareassessing.Thisopensupthedoortomeasurehow

peopleinteractwiththesetools.Wecantesthowdevelopers

wouldoptimisetheircodeusingAItools,whichwillgiveyouacompletepictureofthecandidateandhowtheywouldoperatewithAIasaday-to-dayactivity.”

IlyaSakharov

CTO,Codility

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

AssessinghowdevelopersareleveragingAI

EmbracingtheuseofAIinthewayyouassessdeveloperscangiveyouanedgewhenitcomestoattractingteammembersthatareinterestedinthefield:In2024,AIhasextendeditsdominanceasthemostexcitingindustryfordevelopers.

WhatmightembracingAIinyourhiringprocesslooklikeinpractice?

Readthereport

HowhavedevsadoptedAI?

Getallthedetailsonthelatesttrendswhenit

comestodevelopers’useofAIinSouthAfrica.

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IlyaSakharov

CTO,Codility

Intheassessmentprocess,weshouldassesshowdeveloperswouldoptimisetheircodeusingAItools.

Indoingthis,youcantestforskillssuchas:

?ProofreadingandcodereviewofAI-generatedcode

?Iterativecodeoptimisationforspecificproblemconditions

?Softwarearchitectureandconstruction

?Comprehensiveproblem-solvingandsystemsthinking

?Newcategoriesofskillsuchaspromptengineeringand

computationalthinking

WhenassessinghowcandidatesuseAI,youcanaskquestionssuchas:

?WhichGenAI/LLM-basedtooldidyouuse?

?Whatwereyourpromptsoryourprocessinusingit?

?Explainwhyyoufollowedthisapproach.

?Whatproblemsdidyoufaceusingthetool?

?WhatpotentialproblemscanyouimagineyoumightfaceoptimisingthiscodeusingAItools?

AIinhiring

Jobsearchbehaviour

Bonuscontent

Compensationpackages

expensive

Giventhewaveoflayoffsthathaveaffectedthetechindustry,itmight

seemlikehiringnewteammem