Quarterly Jobs Report (Q1 2020)

Although the true impact of the current global pandemic on the American workforce is yet to be fully determined, we are watching some companies struggle to stay a float and many Americans grapple with unemployment. One fact that is being overlooked is that companies are still actively hiring and the opportunities for developers in the tech industry are continuing to flourish. 

Landing a job after attending LEARN academy’s coding bootcamp is the goal for every one of our students. LEARN’s job placement data reflects current trends in the industry and continues to highlight the success of our students even in the first quarter of 2020!

Table of Contents:

• Hiring Trends During Q1 of 2020
• Positions Companies are Hiring for Now
• Industries Hiring
• Conclusions
• LEARN Q1 Hiring Highlights

Hiring Trends During Q1 of 2020

Being a software developer has been ranked as #1 on the US News, Best 100 Jobs list for 2020. Learning how to code provides you with a valuable skill-set that offers flexibility during economic downturns. Tech continues to thrive during times of uncertainty to provide all industries the ability to stay open and function remotely.

Looking back over the first quarter of 2020, we have not seen a dramatic decline in the hiring of our students. At the end of April 2020, LEARN still has 92% of our alumni employed, with 89% of those currently working inside of the tech industry.  

During Q1 of 2020, the average length job search for graduated students within six months of the program was 1.56 months. This average job search length matches up with a historical average of 1.87 months.

Our internship program continued to show successful hiring rates during Q1 with companies hiring 36% of our students immediately following their 4-week internship. This average is a bit higher than the historical average of 30%.

LEARN is always committed to producing graduates that support a more diversified tech community in San Diego, CA and beyond. Because of this commitment, the current cohort includes 50% female identifiers, and during Q1, 31.6% of LEARN alumni hired identified as female. This average matches closely to a historical average of 30% female alumni.  We also noticed that 47% of LEARN alumni hired during Q1 identified as a person of color. 

LEARN’s Q1 hiring data showcases that hiring for the tech sector continues to provide plenty of opportunities for developers. Students who have been taking a proactive job search approach through connecting to actively hiring companies have found the greatest success. While some companies have reduced their staff due to COVID-19, many others have seen tremendous growth. A recent study conducted by Dice found a 23% growth of job postings in San Diego between February 2020 and March 2020. As the economy begins to re-open, many companies will start to increase their hiring and be looking for even more developers, so staying active now is imperative to remain competitive in the job market. 

Positions Companies are Hiring for Now

LEARN alumni continue to leverage past experiences to enter into a wide variety of positions within the tech industry that match their passion and skill level. 

During Q1, our students landed in the following positions:

The majority of our students start as developers or engineers, continuing to demonstrate that the skill set you learn inside the classroom efficiently prepares you for a career transition into these roles. During Q1, 74% of our students started a developer position, which remains consistent with what we have seen historically from our graduates exiting the program. 

However, becoming a developer isn’t the only route you can take after graduating from LEARN. Inside this sample set, one student became a UI Designer, and another became a QA Engineer. Under the right mentorship, the QA engineer role can be an excellent launch point for recent graduates. It allows them to get their foot in the door, learn the ropes, and quickly work their way up into a developer role. 

Industries Hiring

Technology continues to infiltrate every industry imaginable and the demand for full-time developers continues to grow. This provides our students with the opportunity to use their skills to find a sector that aligns with their passions. 

Looking at the current landscape some industries are doing better than others. Companies like Zoom, Slack, and other remote communication technologies are flourishing. Technology companies are helping industries worldwide stay connected while the majority of companies are forced to move their teams to be exclusively remote. 

Our students have landed in the following industries during Q1:

Some of the companies our students have started working for are creating solutions for the current times. One education tech company has a device that autonomously captures lectures and whiteboard notes and produces virtual notes students can access. 

Another company has a medical platform that can perform COVID-19 infection surveillance remotely and can also gather, report, and inform medical teams with this critical information. 

Web developer agencies have hired multiple students in response to the increase in project work they have seen come in during the last two quarters.  

Conclusions

Our 2020 Q1 hiring data shows a promising outcome for our recent graduates and future students.  Students are still landing jobs after graduation closely in line with our historical data.

Furthermore, our students, on average, are getting these positions in the same amount of time. Plus, companies are hiring about the same amount of our students through the internship program. One projection we see is this number may increase. Many companies may start using the internship program as a way to bring in talent more efficiently to reduce their recruiting costs. 

There is a lot of stress and hurt in the world right now. We are going to endure a lot of change in the next few years and tech will be a large part of those changes. LEARN is dedicated to developing the talent needed as more and more jobs become available in the ever-changing tech industry.