Supply and demand

For the last 2 years really, there’s been a noticeable up-tick in demand for developers. But even over the last couple months in particular, firms have been telling me they’re having a hard time finding people. Where as the strongest developers I know have more work than they can presently handle. This year the Software Hamilton job board will have more postings in it’s first 3-4 months than in all of 2013.

Demand is high for developers in Hamilton, but it’s even higher in Toronto. Higher salaries in Toronto have led many great Hamilton-area developers to work there. In addition to the higher salaries, Toronto firms often have senior talent that can mentor, share best practices, etc.

Watching how supply and demand works itself out is fascinating.

Increased demand for developers in Hamilton is coinciding with increasing supply from McMaster/Mohawk, which could presumably provide an answer. I’d love to see a job opening surge for developers lead to increased enrolment. But the schools feed into the broader tech industry too and not just the local market. An increased supply of developers will only get you so far.

If a firm can’t hire a developer at the rate they are offering, they could try offering more, but that eats into the firm’s profit, and the client can always go elsewhere, so it’s difficult for a firm to raise their rate.

And maybe the client does go elsewhere, and opportunities for new upstarts and freelancers will rise. Or maybe the business goes out of town where costs are cheaper.

There’s also the possibility that if enough firms can’t hire a developer at the current market rate, they could presumably start charging the clients more to pay the developers more.

Or, maybe, those Toronto firms paying more for developers realize they can either move to or open an office in Hamilton, and pay a higher than Hamilton market rate for developers (but lower than Toronto market rate), while maintaining a high margin clientèle.

Or maybe some combination of all of the above.

I have no idea how it will shake out, but there’s definitely some sort of supply-demand issue working itself out right now in our own market.