Software Devs Fight To Keep ‘Rust’ Away as Market Cools

“The client didn’t renew the contract with the consulting firm I work at, and now I’m on hold,” the forum post begins. 

“I don’t know for how long I’ll stick around before they cut me loose, but I want to find something before I’m left with nothing,” the post continues. “I’ve been a Java developer for five years, and worked for three years in this particular job. Honestly, I feel quite rusty. I’m working on my CV, and I know I should study, but I don’t know where to start. Impostor syndrome is taking hold.”

Literally tens of thousands of software developers all over the world find themselves in circumstances at least similar to the ones shared above. Post-COVID, the tech market has been gradually cooling down, putting many devs out of a job. Over the past three years, at least half a million IT workers were laid off.

“The market is slowing down,” José Jiménez, a Mexican software developer, told NSAM in an interview. “I haven’t been benched, but things have been slow at my job”. 

José (who preferred to keep the name of his employer to himself) isn’t as concerned as most of his colleagues, but he does recognize that the current state of the market can spell trouble for software devs even after losing their jobs.

It all comes down to “rust”. Even when a dev is fortunate enough to stay employed, there’s the risk of remaining benched for too long due to a lack of projects. That might lead to months of inactivity, which will eventually result in being cut off and to the possibility of drowning in an increasingly competitive job market, dragged down by the accumulated rust.

Software devs can hope that the market will improve, even if it doesn’t reach the levels of dynamism seen during the height of COVID. But there’s no certainty that such a thing will happen any time soon. 

Some of the top players in the industry have spent the past year and a half assuring investors that the project pipeline will resuscitate over the next quarter or semester. And yet, the market stays lukewarm.

Faced with that reality, software developers have decided to take matters into their own hands to keep the rust at bay.

A rolling stone

Knowledge, creativity and cerebral agility are among the tech industry’s core assets. As such, software developers feel the need to keep their minds primed and ready for any intellectual challenge that comes their way.

That’s why devs regard “rust” after prolonged stays on the bench as a matter of real concern. And that’s why many have implemented routines that allow them to stay mentally agile and fresh. From freelancing to simple yet effective coding exercises, to even job interviews to stay in touch with non-technical skills, the toolbox is wide and varied. 

“I prefer to practice in my free time,” José Jiménez told NSAM. “Some friends try to freelance, but I’m in a situation in which I would rather add as little stress as possible to my life.”

“You need to practice code challenges. Log into LeetCode and practice easy and medium [exercises]. Hackerrank is good too. I did those at least three times a week whenever I felt rusty,” another dev posted in a forum. “I also recommend taking job interviews for positions you don’t care for. Just to keep your rhythm going.”

Keep them busy

Individual software devs aren’t the only ones concerned about “mind rust”. Their managers and leads know the market is in a difficult spot and that their teams need not only to justify their employment but also keep their intellects engaged.

Some companies have their own strategies in place to make bench time as short as possible for their dev teams. In SoftServe, for example, it is common for programmers without a project to be incorporated into R&D teams.

“Those [departments] have specific, tech-oriented lines of work in which our collaborators, during those pauses, can contribute with demos or product segments with client-specific information,” explained Vladimir Mendoza, VP and Mexico Country Manager at SoftServe.

There are also team leads who take the initiative and push their dev teams towards constant upskilling. In an age in which emerging technologies take break into the mainstream market seemingly overnight, being on the cutting edge is an advantage many seek to keep.

“If the talent is current, the clients fight for you to keep them,” stated Pradeep Menon, Executive VP and Global Head of Delivery at Orion Innovation. 

Nobody knows when enthusiasm will come back to the market. Even with the huge buzz around generative AI, financial executives remain cautious about where the money of their organizations is going. There’s much talk about big risk and the opportunities it could bring, but the numbers point to almost the opposite: decision makers are betting on what they can be sure about, and they will continue doing so as long as the macroeconomic landscape remains challenging. To anyone that’s been paying attention to the news over the past couple years, the prospect of macroeconomic stability feels almost like a distant and deceitful memory.

In the meantime, devs will have to keep themselves engaged –in and outside their organizations– to remain rust-free.