The Highest Paying Software Jobs, Plus 3 Tech Skills Trends Companies Care About

Strong demand for software workers continues in the United States, even as some of the biggest tech companies have announced layoffs in 2023 and 2024. This demand goes beyond big tech companies to span across industries like finance, healthcare, insurance, retail, manufacturing and government.

These sectors have not seen the same level of layoffs as the tech giants, and instead are looking to expand their workforce. It's also noted that most tech workers affected by layoffs in the tech industry found new roles quickly, often within the tech sector itself.

How Much Will Software Spending Grow in 2024?

According to Gartner, software will be the tech segment that sees the highest spending growth percentage year-over-year in 2024, seeing a 12.7% jump worldwide. This projects out to over 1 trillion dollars spent in the software sector in 2024, the first time software spending has reached that milestone.

Did Software Salaries Increase in 2023?

With economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, companies did scale back on software salary raises in 2023. According to Motion Recruitment's 2024 Tech Salary Guide, software salaries were essentially flat year-over-year, only rising .1%. This is smaller than the overall tech average of a 2% YoY salary jump.

What are the Biggest Software Job Trends in 2024?

Across the available Software jobs that tech workers apply to, there are some key trends and takeaways experts are pointing to in order to grow your career.

1. Python and Java Continue to be Highly Used, but Others Like Rust are Gaining Ground.

According to a recent report by O'Reilly, Python continues the be the most highly used programming language on their platform, although year-over-year usage was flat, suggesting a cap to its marketplace share. While Java still saw the 2nd biggest share of content usage, it dropped 14% YoY.

The two languages that saw the biggest jumps in usage are an interesting contrast, with Rust and C++ seeing 7.8% and 10.0% YoY jumps respectively. With Rust being a newer language and C++ being around since the mid-1980s, it shows the variety of skills companies are looking for when hiring for a software role.

2. Companies Focus on Soft Skills When Hiring Software Workers.

While there is no doubt that being able to complete the tasks put in front of you at work is still an important part of growing your career, companies are now looking for those who have the soft skills as well as the technical know-how when deciding on who will get a promotion or new hire.

In a Deloitte survey, tech executives said that leadership, problem-solving/decision-making, and relationship skills are the top three skills that would be critical for their technology function in the next two years, outpacing things like expertise and Data Science and analytics.

One of the thoughts behind looking for those who have soft skills in the tech world is that things like communication and leadership are evergreen skills that stand the test the time, which sometimes cannot be said for hard skills in IT, with technology now changing and evolving faster than ever.

3. Spending on Artificial Intelligence and Next-Gen Tech.

Across almost every field in tech, Artificial Intelligence has been a place where companies are investing both time and money. For software engineers, those who are currently AI-focused are currently seeing a 10% higher salary versus their counterparts who are not.

It's not just a healthy compensation bump for those who are working on AI functionality, but developers incorporating already available AI tools into their workflow are seeing an increase in productivity and workplace satisfaction. 87% of developers who are using generative AI tools said they were able to focus on satisfying and meaningful work, versus the 50% who weren't using AI tools.

While there has been exciting growth in the AI field, there's also been an increase in calls for AI ethics and responsible development. Companies and tech workers will be looking at how to utilize the strengths of AI while also emphasizing transparency and accountability in an attempt to eliminate bias.