Insights From Our 2020 JavaScript Report

Although COVID-19 has significantly impacted many organisations' hiring plans, the tech market continues to boom, making it trickier to find and retain top-notch developers with JavaScript skills and commercial experience with modern frameworks such as React, Angular2+ and Vue.js.

Our 2020 JavaScript report is based on data from our placements, an extensive questionnaire filled out by a highly relevant pool of candidates and salary ranges provided by our current partners that include some of the best technology-driven businesses across the UK.

What’s the current state of the JavaScript talent pool in the UK?

In today’s market, there are 64,000+ UK professionals on LinkedIn with the job titles of; ‘Front-end Developer’, ‘Full Stack Developer’, ‘JavaScript Developer’ or ‘Web Developer’, working with either React, Angular 2+ or Vue.js.

87% of these professionals are male, highlighting that the gender gap is still very prevalent across the UK tech industry. However, companies are trying to combat this by encouraging more gender diversity in the workplace.

The demand for talent within the JavaScript market is high and as a result, many companies are willing to pay above market rate to attract the best JavaScript talent. We've also seen that organisations are willing to offer higher salaries to candidates experienced in Cloud and DevOps tools.

On average, JavaScript Developers are likely to move to a new company after 1.2 years making it even more important for companies to retain good talent. 

Although an increasing number of companies are taking on JavaScript developers without formal degrees, our research showed that JavaScript developers were most likely to hold a degree in:

• Computer Science
• Computer Software and Engineering
• Information Technology
• Mathematics and Physics.
  
  To find out more about which universities are producing this talent see the full report.

What does this talent earn?

Based on placements of JavaScript candidates in 2019/2020 in London and the surrounding home counties, Graduates or Junior Front-End Developers with 2 years’ experience working with either React.js, Vue.js or Angular2 can expect to earn on average, between £25,000 to £40,000 per year, with some earning up to £50,000.

Mid-Level Front End Developers with 2.5 to 4 years’ experience, reported earnings of between £40,000 – £65,000, with a small few even earning in excess of £75,000 per year.

Furthermore, professionals with the job title ‘Lead Front-End Developer’ with 5+ years’ experience working with a modern JavaScript framework such as React.js, Vue.js, Angular, as well as experience managing a team or mentoring, earnt anywhere between £75,000 - £120,000 per year.

In addition to this, 35% of our respondents received an annual bonus with the highest being up to 56% of their base salary. For more salary insights check out the full report here.

Where is this talent located?

The UK companies with the largest number of JavaScript/Front-End Developers within their workplace are; Facebook, BBC and JPMorgan with Amazon leading the way with a massive 444 professionals currently working for them.

In the last year, companies such as; OakNorth, Revolut, Starling Bank and Nationwide have increased their JavaScript talent by up to 330%, highlighting the increasing demand for skilled JavaScript/Front-End Developers.

As expected, London is still the location with the largest number of JavaScript professionals with nearly 20,000 developers choosing to work there. Up-and-coming locations for this type of talent include Leeds and the fastest growing tech city in Europe – Manchester. You can also expect to see a small number of professionals based in areas like Edinburgh, Glasgow and the West Midlands.

The importance of Flexibility

77% of respondents said their company currently offers them the option of remote working, while 63% said they are offered flexi-time. The demand for flexible working has never been higher and this is only highlighted by a staggering 73% of respondents saying they would not accept a new job offer if it didn’t offer flexible working or the option of working from home on some basis.

It has also been highlighted that Covid-19 has had an impact on the way developers feel about remote working as 65% of developers reported that the pandemic impacted their way of working with 68% of these wishing to carry on working fully remotely. Only 3% said they would like to return to the office 5 days a week, with 29% happy to work from home 1-2 days a week.

Despite the general scepticism around working from home, we’ve found that because of the pandemic, organisations have learnt to trust their employees and are happy to allow them to work from home on a continued basis.

Despite the general scepticism around working from home, we’ve found that because of the pandemic, organisations have learnt to trust their employees and are happy to allow them to work from home on a continued basis.

The top 5 employer value propositions most important for this talent are:

• Good work-life balance
• Excellent compensation and benefits
• Colleagues and culture that inspire employees to do their best
• Employees have influence over tasks and priorities
• Convenient commute to work

Other popular benefits include:

• Healthcare, medical cash plan, gym, childcare
• Paid breakfasts & lunches
• Option to buy additional holiday or unlimited holiday
• Season ticket loans
• Training budgets, training time, dedicated time to work on personal projects