Working From Home as a Software Developer

The tech industry is thriving more each day and software engineers are in demand more than ever. But, becoming a software engineer is no mean feat. Organisations are beginning to realise that there’s more to consider than salary alone when hiring and retaining a software developer.

Most people who began in an office are no longer based there full time. To keep up with the rest of the industry, organisations are tweaking their job descriptions to highlight their benefits package besides salary. Work/life balance for your employees must be a priority. Not just to keep up with the rest of the world, but to build a happy and productive team.

So, the question must be asked, is your organisation doing enough to attract the best software developers?

Hiring a Software Developer

Various articles and surveys over the last few months have made it no secret that remote, hybrid and flexible approaches to working environments are vital for any company trying to attract top talent.

It’s important to understand what developers want from a role before you start deciding on what to offer them. At Amicus, we’re positioned to receive first hand accounts from developers on their current working life.

Amicus Co-Founder and Director David Lawrence recently conducted a survey on linked in to find out how common it is for software developers to work from home. The answers were unsurprising, but incredibly insightful into how the industry is progressing into remote working.

Remote Software Developer Jobs: The Statistics

David asked 1180 software developers: “How often do you currently work in the office? 21% of developers said they work just once or twice a month in the office while 23% said they visit the office 1 – 3 times a week. No real surprise there. However, just 4% of developers said they go in the office 4-5 days a week leaving a whopping 51% of developers work fully remote.

Following these results, David said, “If you want your developers to be on site more than once or twice a month, you could be missing out on over 75% of the software development community! In a candidate short market, can businesses afford to have such demands?”

Junior vs Senior Software Developer Experience

So, with the majority of software developers potentially working from home, what does that mean for Junior developers looking to get a foot in the door?

Starting a new role in any industry could be tricky if all your training is done completely remote. But, with a technical job, working remote could have a negative impact on training and progression for developers looking to start a software engineering career.

Plus, the lack of social interaction has the potential to diminish their cultural fit. With the rest of the company, including senior staff or mentors being more connected depending on their pre-pandemic working conditions.

On the other hand, you could argue that any struggling Juniors’ ability to develop would be a result of an already ill-managed company culture. There are, in fairness, many companies running fully remote with a super healthy team culture who’s new starters feel wholly supported.

3 Ways to Improve Your Company Culture

1. Use the right methodologies

When it comes to varying methodologies, be it Kanban, Scrum, waterfall or whatever you’re running with, just remember you’re allowed to change it up. Methodologies and frameworks are there to keep your team as agile and productive as possible.

However, they also depend on good communication across your team. If everyone’s working remotely, take time to reflect on your core structure and whether your framework is still the right one. Your ability to adapt is key to attract the best talent.

2. Actively Encourage Your Team’s Wellbeing

Support. Your. Team.

You don’t have to get personal and you don’t need to ask how they’re doing every day. But, there are ways you can support your team in a subtle and healthy way.

When you shout about work/life balance or your team’s metal wellbeing without actually providing solid proof of benefits in your offerings, people will see straight through you. Make sure your benefits package contains real benefits to your team other than basic holiday days or free fruit.

3. Stay Ahead of the Game with Salaries

Wondering why no one is responding to your ad that says ‘Competitive Salary’? It’s because, if your salary was truly competitive, you’d want the world to know how much you look after your staff and show that higher than average salary.

Maybe you’ve looked at a few local job ads for similar roles or maybe you’re simply working with the budget you’ve been given. But, how do you know if you’re genuinely offering an attractive salary. We’ll always recommend offering slightly higher than the industry standard because, most of the time, it’ll make potential candidates instantly interested before even looking at the job description.

It sounds obvious, but it’s astonishing how surprised some hiring managers are that they’re not attracting top tier talent with a bang-average salary. Don’t guess at salaries, be sure that what you’re offering is right and see this Free Software Engineer Salary Guide for help.

Advertising Remote Software Engineer Jobs

We can’t stress this point enough. Pick the right platforms to advertise your jobs! Do you really think the best tech minds are scrolling through generic job boards?

You need to find a niche or specialist tech recruiter to truly expose your roles to the right people. Or at least a platform that can provide you with the best developers who will be fully qualified and looking for a role like the one you’re hiring for. Find the right job board here.