Stripe partnered with Nielsen to conduct a study investigating the impact of developers on their companies and to look at how businesses are leveraging developer talent today, and what they could be doing differently.
2. Businesses today face myriad challenges ㄧ from
security vulnerabilities to trade tariffs, complex
government regulations, and increased global
competition. And in this complex milieu they may be
neglecting the single-biggest factor that could impact
their future success: their developers.
Developers can act as force-multipliers for their firms,
and if used effectively, they also have the collective
potential to raise global GDP by US$3 trillion over the
next ten years.
THE RISE OF THE DEVELOPER
3. We found companies employing developers
in a wide cross-section of industries across
Australia.
83%
Say that their ability to
launch products is reliant
on software engineers
68%
Say that the amount of
company revenue from
developer-driven
products has increased
over the
past 5 years
4. This is despite Australian businesses having
some of the leanest in-house development
teams in the world.
85% 80% 82% 82% 87% 89% 88%
0%
50%
100%
AU US UK
COMPANIES WITH IN-HOUSE DEVELOPERS
80%
0%
50%
100%
Global FR DE SG
5. As the role of technology within
organisations becomes a core function
for realising lucrative new revenue
streams, developers are transitioning
from technicians to leaders, and
Australian developers are leading the
pack.
E V E R Y C O M P A N Y I S F A S T B E C O M I N G A
T E C H N O L O G Y C O M P A N Y
6. 63%
50% 49%
59%
53% 53%
0%
50%
100%
AU FR DE UK USSG AU FR DE UK USSG
74%
85%
73%
83%
71% 68%
0%
50%
100%
74% agree that a great deal or
moderate amount of weight is
placed on developer input when
making major strategic decisions at
the company.
63% report an increase in
Australian developer decision-
making power over the past
five years.
C O U N T R Y R A N K
7. Developers increasingly have a
seat at the table when it comes
to forging company roadmaps
and products, signaling a shift
towards developer leadership
roles.
8. 76%
Say that developers are involved
in determining their company’s
roadmap
58%
Agree that developer input in
determining the company’s
product roadmap has increased
over the past 5 years
49%
Claim that developers consult executive
management more frequently than they
did five years ago — either meeting with
their executive team on a weekly basis
or
monthly basis
42%
Monthly
27%
Weekly
9. Despite having leaner teams,
developer clout in Australia is
on par with the rest of the
world.
W H E R E D O D E V E L O P E R S H A V E T H E G R E A T E S T C L O U T ?
10. C O U N T R Y R A N K
AU
FR
DE
UK
US
SG
74%
85%
73%
83%
71%
68%
0% 50% 100%
11. Demand for developers is surging across
geographies and industries, far
outstripping the existing talent pipeline.
This is making it critical for companies to
manage engineering time with as much
creativity and discipline as they manage
money.
A C C E S S T O D E V E L O P E R S A
G R O W I N G C H A L L E N G E F O R
B U S I N E S S E S
13. AU FR DE UK USSG
64% battle to hire
developers.
69% claim that their
company has limited
developer resources.
D E V E L O P E R D R O U G H T
Global
61%
69%
42%
69% 66% 64%
57%
0%
50%
100%
AU FR DE UK USSGGlobal
63% 64%
47%
67% 69% 68%
61%
0%
50%
100%
14. Why are companies struggling to hire
developers?
64%
Said there’s a lack of
qualified developers with
the skills we require
46%
Said there’s intense
competition for
developer talent
46%
Said it’s hard to find
developers that work on
the technology that
matters to us
15. 45%
Said they’re too
expensive to hire
26%
Said too few of them
are applying to our
company
Why are companies struggling to hire
developers?
17. While it’s a priority for senior executives to
increase the productivity of their developers,
the average developer spends around 17 hours
a week dealing with maintenance issues, such
as debugging, refactoring, and more.
Developers are spending an average of 4 hours
a week on bad code, which equates to nearly
US$ 85 billion in opportunity cost lost annually,
according to Stripe’s calculations on average
developer salary by country.
‘BAD CODE’ COSTS COMPANIES
BILLIONS ANNUALLY
18. 41.1
9.25%
0.4%
2
17.3
13.5
3.8
~$85 billion USD
~$232 million SGD
Average hours per developer workweek
Average hours spent on technical debt
Percent productivity loss from bad code
Singapore’s GDP as a proportion of world GDP
Average hours spent on bad code in Singapore
Average hours spent by developers on bad
code, debugging, refactoring, modifying
Average hours spent on bad code
Global GDP loss from developer time spent
on bad code annually
Singapore’sGDP lossfrom developer time spend on
bad code annually
THEECONOMICIMPACT
OF ‘BAD CODE’ GLOBALLY
Sources: Evans Data Corp.,
CIA Factbook, Stripe research ~$170 million USD
~$85 billion USD
19. In the new internet driven economy,
the availability of developer
resources has a direct correlation
with the speed to launch and grow
products, and therefore ability to
make revenue targets.
20. Limited developer time is inhibiting the
growth of the innovation economy.
63%
Of companies say that developer
time is becoming the limiting
constraint on their ability to
innovate and grow
21. Many companies find themselves in a position of
reverse leverage, with technical debt (that is,
spending time reworking development already
done, as a business grows) consuming scarce
cycles that would otherwise go towards product
development.
Significantly, two thirds (66%) of businesses in
Australia report that their developers spend more
time addressing technical debt than on strategic
projects. This is second only to Singapore, where
70 percent report the same.
T H E E C O N O M I C S O F T E C H N I C A L D E B T
22. Who has the highest tech debt?
66%
51% 56%
70%
59% 58%
0%
50%
100%
C O U N T R Y R A N K
AU FR DE UK USSG
23. 46% of these companies attribute this
productivity drain to the maintenance of
legacy systems.
L E G A C Y L E T H A R G Y
73%
We are slower to
develop new products
and features because we
use legacy systems
60%
Legacy systems inhibit
our ability to effectively
compete with emerging
challengers
24. 46% attribute this productivity drain to the
maintenance of legacy systems.
L E G A C Y L E T H A R G Y
67%
Legacy systems inhibit
our ability to innovate
73%
Integrating new
software takes longer
than it should because
of our legacy systems
25. In a competitive landscape where velocity
trumps size or capital, infrastructure is
swiftly becoming the deciding factor between
the nimble challengers and the lumbering
incumbents.
Yet, 71 percent of developers say that they
have conflicting priorities with non-technical
management when it comes to their
company’s technology stack.
29. 54% 50% 46% 46%
0%
50%
100%
Reliability
P R I O R I T I E S F O R D E V E L O P E R S A T L A R G E
C O M P A N I E S
Security Flexibility Cost Savings
31. 51% 46% 46%
0%
50%
100%
Long Term Gains
P R I O R I T I E S F O R N O N - T E C H N I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A T S M A L L
C O M P A N I E S
Cost Savings Flexibility
32. 54% 48%
37% 37%
0%
50%
100%
P R I O R I T I E S F O R N O N - T E C H N I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A T M I D - S I Z E D
C O M P A N I E S
Cost Savings Reliability FlexibilitySecurity
33. 63%
54% 50%
0%
50%
100%
P R I O R I T I E S F O R N O N - T E C H N I C A L M A N A G E M E N T A T L A R G E
C O M P A N I E S
Cost Savings Long Term Gains Security
34. While old systems and
conflicting priorities are major
hindrances, developer
productivity is hampered by a
host of other factors.
35. What’s killing developer productivity?
42%
Work overload
37%
Wrong prioritisation
31%
Lack of technical
expertise in senior
management
36. What’s killing developer productivity?
30%
Not being involved in
business strategy
decisions
30%
Management focus on
status quo rather than
the future
30%
Managing poorly skilled
contract developers who
are working on internal
projects
37. Companies are suffering as a result.
64%
Of participating companies agree
that they made important
strategic mistakes because of
insufficient input from
developers
38. T O P 3 M I S T A K E S F O R S M A L L C O M P A N I E S
54%
Bringing on unnecessary
head count
50%
The wrong hiring
decisions are being
made
42%
Poor security
procedures
39. T O P 3 M I S T A K E S F O R M I D - S I Z E D C O M P A N I E S
58%
There’s an incorrect
division of labour within
the company
47%
Bringing on
unnecessary head count
47%
The wrong hiring
decisions are being
made
40. T O P 3 M I S T A K E S F O R L A R G E C O M P A N I E S
50%
Bringing on unnecessary
head count
36%
The wrong hiring
decisions are being
made
36%
Having the wrong
product roadmap
41. In the face of this resource crunch,
companies adopting modern
technology stacks are finding them to
be key levers of growth, helping
them accelerate product
development, reduce overhead
expenses and reduce unnecessary
headcount.
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E A S L E V E R A G E
42. Having a modern tech stack helps to
81%
Accelerate product
development
77%
Reduce overhead
expenses
66%
Reduce unnecessary
headcount
43. 87%
Of companies say that
implementing and maintaining a
modern technology stack is now a
high priority for their company
44. Why is maintaining a modern technology stack
a priority for your company?
69%
Maintain an edge over
competitors
66%
Stay relevant in the
market
63%
Maintain speed of
business
45. Why is maintaining a modern technology stack
a priority for your company?
59%
Stay aware of
technology trends
44%
Help recruit new
developers
46. 57%
Of companies say that the use of third-
party APIs internally has increased over
the past 5 years.
47. The top 3 benefits that third party API tools
bring to businesses
48%
Easier to expand
internationally
47%
More stable code base
41%
Richer user data
48. The Developer Coefficient survey was conducted online by
Nielsen on behalf of Stripe to investigate the impact of
developers on their companies across the US, UK, France,
Germany, Singapore and Australia. A total of 1,440 surveys
among software/web developers, software/web/computer
engineers, SVP/VP/Directors of Engineering, CTOs, and CIOs
who work for a company that employs either contract and/or
in-house developers and has at least two employees. An
additional survey was also conducted with more than 1,000
developers and more than 1,000 C-level executives across
select countries for insights on the role that developer
productivity plays in the growth of worldwide GDP overall.