The 2021 State of Developer Recruitment Report is based on survey data from around 2,500 engineering managers and HR professionals from 79 countries; across industries including technology, pharmaceutical, retail, automobile, construction, banking, media, finance, and insurance. The report aims to outline the best practices for hiring professionals and developer candidates and determine what the post-pandemic hiring landscape looks like.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record-breaking 2.9% of the workforce quit their jobs in August 2021 to seek better opportunities. Many are demanding increased flexibility in their employment search—from remote and hybrid options to more work-life balance—as companies are desperate to fill roles. HackerEarth report suggests that 2022 will remain a candidate’s market and that the tech industry must continue to change how it assesses candidates.

Additionally, while 2021 put a spotlight on DE&I in hiring and the workplace, HackerEarth report found that recruiters are slightly split between wanting to hire diverse candidates and filling roles quickly based on supply and demand. An overwhelming number of engineering managers care more about shipping code than building diverse teams.

“Last year, many companies put a pause on hiring, but that has completely changed and many hiring managers report that they are looking to fill up to 100 roles in what’s already a highly competitive market. Employers seeking to hire top developer talent will be challenged to keep their recruiting practices current or risk compromising key priorities,” said Sachin Gupta, CEO of HackerEarth. “Much of what happens in 2022 will shape the post-pandemic workforce. Engineering managers should be focused on updating outdated practices to eliminate hiring silos and increase candidate engagement.”

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Key findings from the 2021 State of Developer Recruitment Report include:

Hiring managers are inclined to prioritize skills over everything, but not always

  • Both engineering managers and recruiters look for the best skill fit when sourcing and assessing candidates.
  • However, while more than 30% of recruiters said they would never compromise on candidate quality to fill a role, 35% of engineering managers said they would compromise in order to hire faster.
  • The priority for many is hiring a developer, over hiring the perfect diverse candidate. Diversity as a criterion might just be an added burden in the current recruiting environment.

Some conventional methods and mindsets persist despite the shift to remote/hybrid work

  • About 28.9% of respondents who don’t use an assessment tool said that they feel their methods are effective, indicating they haven’t thought about the flaws and inherent biases of the process.
  • Of the respondents who said they do not use an assessment tool, most believe that sorting candidates via resumes or telephone conversations is enough to move them to the interview round.
  • Conversely, companies that use assessment tools for their tech hiring report have a more standardized process that is objective and results in more accurate assessments.

Despite a slower change in some areas, remote work has helped reduce friction and change attitudes

  • The number of recruiters and engineering managers who felt aligning on the skills required for a role was hard has dwindled from last year.
  • Both recruiters and engineering managers agree that candidate quality and deadlines are important pain points of the process that need to be solved.
  • Both the cohorts also seem to care about un-siloing the tech hiring process in the wake of the pandemic.

Looking ahead to 2022…

  • Roughly 5 out of 10 respondents say they have organized an internal hackathon in the past year and found that it improved ideation and cross-team functioning.
  • 37.9% of respondents said working from the office will be voluntary in the coming future, with about 33% saying that they plan to be completely remote.
  • 8 out of 10 engineering managers say they will continue to use coding interview tools even after in-person interviews become normalized

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