Software Engineering Trends: Prediction For 2022
Technology innovations are changing and disrupting businesses in a variety of industries - ranging from healthcare, to finance and banking, and supply chain. Software engineers will play an important role in reinventing these industries, particularly during times like the current pandemic. However, they will be very different compared to the engineers of the past.
So, what will the future of software engineering look like, and how will it meet the demands of today and tomorrow’s society?
The software engineers, who will create the new future, will be a different kind of tech workers than the engineers educated before. Even though the future software engineers will still need to be problem solvers - to become successful in their roles, software engineers will need to possess effective communication and teamwork skills, global knowledge, a solid understanding of the impact of sustainability on innovation, and more importantly technical expertise to develop future-proof products and services.
Due to the shortage of skilled software engineers and developers in recent times, business organizations will need to prepare to upskill their current workforce to fill in the gap. However, many business leaders would question how and where to start with upskilling their current workforces and new entrants?
In this article, let’s examine what the software engineers of the future will look like and how they can meet the demands of today and tomorrow’s society.
Software Engineering in the Digital Era
When it comes to engineering, in the traditional sense, we would think about careers in the automobile industry or electronic equipment making (e.g. TV, DVD players, etc.), or telecommunication but the scope for engineers has expanded greatly over the last few decades. Today, we will find engineers working in the software and IT industry, as well as the healthcare or even the food and beverage sector.
Recently, it was found that some engineering-related industries are slowly fading away and being replaced by technologies and machines automation, there is growing a sector-wide shortage of skilled software engineers that need to be filled in.
Software Engineering is among the highest in-demand professions in today's workforce. According to a new report from Software.org, the software industry brings 15.8 million jobs to the economy in the US alone and is growing faster than the overall GDP. Additionally, the software industry contributes $1.9 trillion in total U.S. value-added GDP in 2020, which translates to a 17.1% increase over two years.
The need for digital transformation, with emerging technologies, as well as the need for technological innovations make a career in software engineering a viable and dynamic one. Software engineers and developers will be required to do a lot more in the future, which translates to an even higher need for various kinds of software developers and engineers.
Keeping Up To Date With The Current Skills Set
There are many factors at play that require the training and re-training, upskilling, and cross-skilling of the current and future engineers to meet the needs of today’s digital economy. In addition, other aspects like socio and population growth, and urbanization, consumers also affect the society’s demand as a whole.
Software engineers will have to keep pace with the constantly-changing demands whilst also prioritizing occupational health and safety, regulation requirements, and considering the sustainability of their development projects.
Cloud Computing is Among The Top Tech Skills in 2022
In addition, we have seen an increase in the acceptance of new technologies in different sectors, which means that software engineers need to be trained to handle those new technologies. During the peak of the pandemic, computing solution was a clear winner among other digital transformation initiatives in 2020. Gartner forecasts that global spending on cloud services is predicted to rise to $482 billion in 2022, an increase from $313 billion in 2020. In addition, this trend is expected to continue: cloud spending is expected to rise by 19 percent year-round.
As a result, cloud computing is now one of the most in-demand technical skills in 2022, and as we have witnessed since the 00s, this technology is transforming the way software works – including the way we design and develop products.
A few notable examples include SaaS products and smart products like Alexa (by Amazon) and Google Home and smart cars, etc. These products require consistent updates with new innovations throughout their product life cycle.
Even though this makes each product more sustainable, it needs a different technique for innovation, product design, and software development. Technologies concepts like the digital twin can be leveraged to simulate such innovations, meaning engineers will have to acquire the needed skills to constantly work on developing the new products.
Sustainable Engineering
As software engineers work to develop products and projects across multiple industries, their work is now tied to the physical world and makes an impact on the planet. Due to the need for sustainability and environmental protection, we will likely see the increasing use of green technologies and solutions in almost every field of engineering, including software engineering, to reduce emissions and provide sustainable materials.
Conclusion
Technological innovations have clearly shown the strong potential of the future of software engineering. A post-pandemic world is on the brink, and with new technological change - companies and educational institutions have a great opportunity to equip our current and future tech workers with the right skills to succeed within their chosen sectors. Not only do software engineers play a key role in many aspects of our lives, but they also play an important role in supporting sustainability planning in these areas.
All in all, "software engineer" will likely continue to be among the most in-demand job title across all industries, the increasing needs by business organizations for cloud computing, big data, analytics, and mobile solutions are all driving up the demand for software developers and software engineers. Ultimately, it will come down to each specific individual and what they have passions for.
