Connected device industry faces severe skills shortage

Demand for connected devices is causing a severe developer skills shortage and a crisis in wellbeing as developers come under increasing pressure.

New research for the Qt Company, carried out by Forrester Consulting, finds 75 percent of connected device manufacturers say that demand is outstripping supply. At the same time 65 percent are worried about the wellbeing of their developers.

In order to maintain or improve their market position, smart or connected products needed to be introduced according to 82 percent. The report also reveals more than four fifths (82 percent) of companies believe higher-level software tools and development frameworks are crucial to accelerating new product development -- critical at a time when the world continues to face an acute skills shortage.

"All too often native development for individual chipsets leads to isolated pockets of skills that are hard to transfer to new platforms. And the rising demand for connected device developers exacerbates these skill silos. Businesses need to urgently consider the burden being placed on developers to support current workforce," says Marko Kaasila, SVP of product management at the Qt Company. "The welfare of software developers in today’s fast paced world has been overlooked as companies' digitally innovate in order to survive. The unforeseen need for rapid digital transformation has placed a huge drain on developers, who have not been equipped with the necessary tools to cope with this dramatic rate of change. Tools, such as cross-platform frameworks, make it easier for developers to work across different platforms and fill talent needs."

Among other findings 23 percent of companies admit a lack of consistent working environments for developers, while 45 percent agree that cross-platform software design and development tools made the software development process more efficient.

Two of the top three tech challenges are cross-device issues. 75 percent of companies agree that an end-to-end solution is an important requirement and lack of this has caused additional stress on developers. The shift to digital business has led 50 percent of companies to expand or upgrade their investment in cross-platform design and development tools, with 14 percent planning to invest in the next 12 months.

You can get the full study on the Qt company site.