{"id":8249,"date":"2019-02-06T14:42:31","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T19:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=8249"},"modified":"2020-05-19T13:35:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T17:35:44","slug":"chicagos-growing-tech-scene-needs-more-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/chicagos-growing-tech-scene-needs-more-developers","title":{"rendered":"Chicago’s Growing Tech Scene Needs More Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tech scene in the Windy City has been\u00a0<\/span>making waves lately<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and, as a result, demand for skilled Web Developers in Chicago appears to be rising.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although a few years have passed since Adam McCombs, chief executive of technology\u00a0at Chicago-based\u00a0<\/span>JumpForward<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that finding skilled Web Developers and Software Engineers was the \u201cbane of (his) existence,\u201d there\u2019s much evidence that it\u2019s only gotten harder to hire web development talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read on for a few reasons behind the shortage, as well as how it\u2019s affecting employers and Developers alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Shortage Isn\u2019t New, But it is Intensifying<\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that Chicago isn\u2019t the only city with a dearth of Developers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed recently\u00a0<\/span>reported<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that Front-End Developers were the second-most difficult job to fill in tech, while Full-Stack Developers weren\u2019t far behind at the fourth-hardest to find. There\u2019s no reason to believe that will change; the U.S. Bureau of Labor has forecast that the market for Web Developers will grow another\u00a0<\/span>15 percent<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by 2026. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the Chicago-specific shortage has vexed companies for a long time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As far back as 2010, Chicago-based Groupon opened an office in the West Coast after being frustrated that it took about 18 months to hire just 30 Developers in Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhen we opened an office in Silicon Valley, it took us a matter of months to match the size of our Chicago team,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Andrew Mason, Founder and Chief Executive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The Developer drought has only worsened as demand has increased.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In fact, a recent study by\u00a0<\/span>Zippia<\/span><\/a>\u00a0found that Web Developer was the second-fastest growing job in Illinois \u2013 not just within tech, but amongst all types of employment \u2013 with a growth rate of 32.42 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chicago Tech Scene Keeps Growing<\/b><\/h2>\n

Where its tech scene once sat in the shadow of the robust hubs on the coasts \u2013 New York and Silicon Valley \u2013 Chicago has started to turn heads internationally, and the rapid growth of its tech ecosystem will only increase the demand for Developers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a KPMG poll of more than 750 global tech industry leaders, Chicago was\u00a0<\/span>ranked<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the third-most innovative tech hub in the U.S. and it made the Top 10 worldwide. Similarly, the CompTIA Cyberstates Innovation 2018\u00a0<\/span>report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0ranked Illinois with the sixth-highest innovation score and the fifth-highest net tech employment rank.<\/span><\/p>\n

Major recent deals have also brought attention Chicago\u2019s way. The biggest acquisitions of 2018 included DocuSign taking on Chicago-based SpringCM for\u00a0<\/span>$220 million<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Kroger scooping up local grocery meal kit company Home Chef for\u00a0<\/span>$200 million<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Chicago startups raised nearly\u00a0<\/span>$1.4 billion in VC funding<\/span><\/a>\u00a0last year, while major companies from outside Illinois \u2013 including Salesforce, LinkedIn and Facebook \u2013 have all recently made major expansions to their Chicago operations, pointing to more prosperity in the tech sphere to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Specific Skillsets are Hard to Find<\/b><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re a Developer hoping to take advantage of this demand, it\u2019s worth looking deeper into the skills that are particularly scarce in the Second City.<\/span><\/p>\n

CultureFit compiled\u00a0<\/span>a list<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of the six most in-demand programming languages in the Chicagoland area, concluding that most employers wanted Java experience, followed by JavaScript, SQL, Python, C#\/.NET, and C+++.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other targets are growing quickly. According to data gathered by\u00a0<\/span>Stack Overflow<\/span><\/a>, the fastest-growing desired competencies include ReactJS, Apache Spark and Azure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Developers are the Ones Who Stand to Benefit<\/b><\/h2>\n

With high demand for their skill set, it\u2019s obviously a good time to be a Web Developer anywhere in the U.S. Chicago does seem to offer its own benefits, however.<\/span><\/p>\n

SpareFoot teamed with Indeed to find the 10 metro areas in the U.S. with the most job listings for Web Developers, along with the average salary data and the average costs of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Unsurprisingly, they placed Chicago as the second-best city in the country for Web Developers, behind only Atlanta and tied with New York \u2013 noting the caveat that Chicago has a major advantage in cost of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Second City beats out the Big Apple when it comes to housing affordability,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>read<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the study. \u201cThat $92,000 average salary goes pretty far here, whether you buy or rent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond that, there\u2019s also the palpable energy that seems to come with being part of a tech industry on a rapid rise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI see Chicago\u2019s coding community as a startup,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Anthony Avina, Senior Staff Mobile Engineer at Snapsheet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s growing at breakneck speed with opportunities everywhere. It\u2019s still young enough that members can really impact the community but it has a purpose and goal. Chicago has the potential to be one of the best tech hubs in the country, we just all need to pitch in and help it grow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Demand for Web Developers in Chicago is rising, but there aren’t enough skilled professionals to fill the roles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[84,97],"tags":[707,706,743,257,443],"yoast_head":"\nChicago's Growing Tech Scene Needs More Developers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Demand for Web Developers in Chicago is rising, but there aren't enough skilled professionals to fill the roles. 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