According to some internet stats I dug to find, in 2016 there was approximately 162,000 web developer roles. In 2026, that number is expected to increase to 188,000. Over those 10 years of growth, 10% of developers are expected to retire. The job outlook is a very positive one and we need to prioritize increasing our applicant pool of web developers. It’s crazy to think that our worlds first web developers, depending on what age they started, could be retiring soon (or maybe already retired)!
What are current junior web developer job openings requiring?
I took a look at a bunch of “junior web developer” roles currently posted online and reviewed what requirements were listed in the job description. 60% of the roles required 2+ years of experience, 16% required 1 year of experience and only 23% required no past experience. How in the world are junior developers going to get experience for those “junior” roles if you won’t hire them?! In my opinion, if you are hiring for a junior web developer there should be no experience requirements. Sure, maybe a degree requirement or a working knowledge of X requirement, but most definitely not any amounts of experience, especially not years.
We are failing our new developers. We are failing at offering opportunities that they will confidently apply for so they can learn and grow and become the experienced developers we will desperately need in a few years.
This blog post is part of a series of blog posts called A Guide to Mentoring Junior Developers. Also, see Writing Better Junior Web Developer Job Descriptions.
