In early January, we encouraged you to participate in the 4th edition of the IT community survey organized by Bulldogjob in partnership with our company, Sages. The survey has been completed and the findings summarized in a report. Thanks to the involvement of a wide range of respondents, it was once again possible to obtain a current and comprehensive picture of the Polish IT industry. According to the estimates indicated in the report, the IT market will grow by 4.8% in the period 2021-2026. So it's worth knowing what's squeaking in the industry, as it's still an attractive career path.
What does the IT market look like today? What role does development and education play in the IT community? How do IT professionals expand their knowledge: through IT training, postgraduate studies, or perhaps online courses?
TheIT community survey has already become an annual event. It has been organized periodically since 2019. Every year the number of people taking part in the survey grows, which allows us to get a reliable picture of the IT industry in Poland. There are at least several reasons to follow the findings of the Bulldogjob survey. First of all, the report can serve as a tool for making purposeful and effective decisions about careers in the IT industry. It is also an invaluable portion of knowledge about salary levels, the most popular specializations and technologies, as well as a cross-section through working conditions. Comprehensive conclusions of the report are available on Bulldogjob's website: https://bulldogjob.pl/it-report/2022, and we, as a partner of the survey, present a summary of the most important aspects, paying special attention to the topic of professional development and education.
The landscape of the IT industry - selected conclusions
Several conclusions emerge from the report, which allow us to briefly characterize the current landscape of the IT market.
First, it is still a not very diverse industry. Men dominate, accounting for as much as 86% of respondents, while women account for only 14%. Not much has changed in this regard since last year, as the proportions were distributed exactly the same. For what it's worth, we're already seeing an improvement compared to 2020. Back then, men accounted for 90% of the respondents, and women for less than 10%. Interestingly, despite being less represented, women are gaining skills and experience faster, and thus statistically advancing faster in the IT industry.
The most represented group in the community are those in the 25-30 age range**(34%)**, followed closely by those in the 30-34 age range (25%). Due to the prevalence of the remote work model, place of residence is becoming less important. This is a positive trend for people from smaller cities, for whom location is no longer a barrier to finding their dream job in the IT sector.
The majority of those surveyed, 55%, graduated with a degree in IT. The remainder went through a re-branding process. For 30% of those surveyed, it was probably less demanding, as they declared they had graduated from other technical fields. In contrast, 15% of those surveyed were non-technical graduates. In the following section, we will look at what available forms of education these individuals are using to make a career change.
In terms of the popularity of specializations, not much is changing. The three most popular professions are still programmers, testers and DevOpsi. IT specialists mainly work for companies with Polish capital (54%). However, as the competence of our specialists is increasingly valued, more representative offices of foreign companies will appear in Poland, so this proportion may be shaken.
The nature of the employer is also changing. Until now, these were mainly companies operating in the outsourcing model and software houses. Today, more and more companies are choosing to develop their own software in order to respond faster and better to customer needs. Therefore, there will be more and more job offers from companies operating in the field of e-commerce, for example.
The role of education in the IT industry
The findings of the Bulldogjob report clearly indicate that education plays a very important role for the IT community. As many as 73% of those surveyed have completed higher education, of which 38% have a master's degree. Knowledge is thus the foundation for shaping a career path. As we can observe from reading the report, it doesn't stop being important at later stages either.
For 50% of those surveyed, training and professional courses are the most attractive benefits an employer can offer. For 32%, language courses and tuition subsidies count.
In 2021, development was most important to the IT community 34%. In the 2022 survey, development dropped to 3rd place and was favored by 24% of respondents. In first place were money (26%) and people (25%). However, as we can see, the percentage differences between these three items are minimal. If we superimpose the economic situation in the country (inflation) and the aftermath of isolation due to COVID, these minor dichotomies are most understandable.
There is also no surprise in the analysis of the answers to the question of motivators. For the third time in a row, it turns out that the IT community is motivated by factors such as the desire for development and self-improvement, regardless of where they work. This gives a very positive testimony to the maturity of industry representatives. This means that they are not afraid of innovation and are open to new paths of development gained through IT training, thus actively contributing to technological progress.
IT training and other sources of knowledge
Among the main sources of knowledge acquisition and professional development, the IT community lists:
- Blogs and thematic websites (77%)
- Online courses/YouTube (69%)
- Co-workers/friends (63%)
- Online forums (46%)
- Books (38%)
- Paid IT courses and training (35%)
- Conferences/meetups (22%)
- Postgraduate studies (3.9%)
At the top of the list are those forms of education that can be delivered remotely, which may also be the aftermath of COVID. Just as in the past any online courses or e-learning might have raised doubts about reliability, the latest Bulldogjob survey shows that these fears are now unfounded and a lot of people are taking advantage of these forms of training.
There are many types of IT training available on the market, with their scope tailored to the level of the audience, specific specialties and technologies. At Sages, we understand the trends and challenges of the IT industry very well. That's why we deal with the education of IT professionals in multiple ways, including through:
- masterclasses and e-learning courses
- Open and dedicated IT training courses
- Development programs, i.e. intensive professional courses that allow you to gain a new profession or significantly improve your competence in a specific field
- Postgraduate studies carried out in cooperation with Warsaw University of Technology and Kozminski University
