State of the Software Developer Nation

We asked software developers in the Netherlands which industries they thought were up and coming in 2022. AI is still software developers' most promising industry, followed by Cloud Technology, and Cybersecurity. The shift to a remote-first world shows no signs of slowing down and most essential services are going digital, which makes these industries as relevant as ever.

Crypto is closing in on the top 3: Since our 2021 report, Crypto's desirability has more than doubled. In fact, less than 3% separates Crypto from Cybersecurity in third place.

More developers might want to work with Python and Go, but JavaScript frameworks still hold the reins in the top 5. While React remains developers' most desired framework in the Netherlands, Google-backed Flutter is the biggest mover since our 2021 report. It's moved from 8th to 6th place, overtaking frameworks like Django.

The biggest surprise emerges when looking at the most desired frameworks across developer roles: 1 in 5 backend developers in the Netherlands want to work with React, a frontend framework! A further 15% of backend developers in the Netherlands want to work with frontend JavaScript framework Vue.js. This suggests that these backend developers are keen to take on full stack roles in the near future.

On the other end, React Native beats Vue.js as the most wanted framework among frontend developers in the Netherlands. Svelte, a new entrant to the list, ties for fourth place with Flutter.

Developer-favourite React overtakes Node.js to become the most widely used framework by software developers in the Netherlands.

Spring Boot, a Java-based framework, is the most used framework by backend developers in the Netherlands, followed by JavaScript framework Node.js. JavaScript frameworks dominate among the most used frameworks by frontend and full stack developers.

So what does this mean for developers? Despite its loss in popularity and usage, JavaScript is not going anywhere and it's still one of the most important programming languages in any developer's toolkit.

An increasing number of companies are using the cloud, because it's a reliable and cost-effective way to deliver a multitude of services and benefits. Whichever cloud provider takes the lead in the cloud wars will dominate the rest of the pack and claim the lion’s share of customers in this industry.

Among developers in the Netherlands, the battle to become the top cloud platform has a clear winner: AWS is the most used cloud platform by software developers in the Netherlands, followed by Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Azure only takes the top spot among enterprise companies. It's the most used cloud platform by developers at companies with more than 10,000 employees. This makes sense, as Microsoft tools are widely used and trusted in enterprises.

In the tech industry, remote went from niche to table stakes very fast. 9 out of 10 developers in the Netherlands are now in some kind of remote set-up: 70.4% are doing hybrid work from the office as well as from home, and 21.2% are working fully remotely.

That means only 8.4% of developers in the Netherlands are still working in a traditional office set-up!

2021 was a record-breaking year for tech IPOs and demand for software developers, especially seniors, has skyrocketed to unprecedented highs. As a consequence, we've seen trends like the "great resignation" and global salary increases for senior developers, because they can take their pick of opportunities. Thanks to remote work, the choice has now also become global.

Senior developers in the Netherlands are earning €64 000 per year, which will likely increase further since demand for senior developers is at an all-time high. This means that companies have to switch gear. If they can't afford to match the seniors' market-related salaries, they will have to focus on building out seniority from within by hiring less experienced software developers. Furthermore, they can get ahead by offering more of the other things that matter to developers.

If you are busy building out your tech team, check out what developers want from their next job in our 2022 Software Developer Hiring Report.

In order to give further context on the distribution of the 2022 salary data for software developers in the Netherlands, we’ve also included the 25th and 75th percentile salaries in this graph.

The Netherlands is a global tech hub attracting investment and workforce from across the globe. Looking at software developers' countries of origin is a great example of just how global the tech industry has become: More than two thirds of our survey respondents currently working in the Netherlands are not Dutch-born.

Note that OfferZen's community of software developers is distributed throughout Europe and Africa. Due to the nature of our business and audience, it's likely that this data reflects our focus on sourcing survey responses from our community of developers currently working in the Netherlands.

Another signal that the "great resignation" is not over: 30% of software developers in the Netherlands are looking to move jobs this year. The percentage of software developers currently looking for a new role has increased by 7% since last year.

The data also shows just how important growth is to software developers: More than half of developers who don't believe they can grow at their current companies are either actively looking for a new role or will start looking within the year. On the other hand, 90.4% developers who believe that they can continue growing at their current company are most likely to stay for at least 5 more years.

So what makes developers stay in a job? The data says it's a great company culture.

While company culture is developers’ fourth most likely reason for staying in a role, their top 3 point to the crucial elements of a desirable culture: A good work-life balance, great team members, and solid career growth. Moreover, culture outweighs both current and future salary potential when deciding to stick with a job.

However, that's not to say that money doesn't matter. In fact, both current and future salary potential have increased in importance since our 2021 report.

As we've seen throughout the report, developers are committed to growing as coders. But how do they develop their skills? We asked developers for the most important ways they keep their skills sharp.

Online tutorials are the most popular way for developers in the Netherlands to improve their coding skills. 66.3% use them to stay on the cutting edge of their field. A further 60% spend time working on side projects. This is unsurprising given that the majority of developers in the Netherlands spend time coding as a hobby.

The real surprise? 1 in 3 developers are still using books and physical media as resources for keeping their skills sharp.

Learning to code may not be restricted to the classroom, but developers in the Netherlands don't shy away from formal education. More than two thirds of developers have a bachelor's degree or higher.

In fact, 1 in 4 software developers have a master's degree.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of developers with a university degree chose Computer Science as their field of study. What's more interesting is that 1 in 5 studied another STEM field.

Practical experience is the best teacher and making mistakes is a key part of any developer's education. Bringing down production is one such opportunity for learning.

The majority of developers in the Netherlands have brought down production at least once during their careers!