[IT Developer Battle] The Heyday of Computer Science in the 2000s

Uncertain Future Once Faded Popularity
Prime Time Again After AlphaGo Matches
Game Industry's 'Developer Recruitment' War Signals
App and SW Developers' Value Soars Sky-High

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Cheolhyun, Kang Nahum, Lee Junhyung] Kwon Joongyeon (31, pseudonym), a fifth-year developer working at a large IT company located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, entered the Department of Computer Engineering (CompEng) in 2009. At that time, he was accepted into both the College of Engineering's Computer Engineering Department and the College of Education's Mathematics Education Department and had to choose his major.

After much deliberation between the uncertain future of CompEng and the guaranteed job prospects of Mathematics Education, Kwon ultimately decided to pursue what he wanted and took his first step into the world of software development. He said, "Back then, CompEng was not popular," adding, "I never thought the status of developers would rise as much as it has now."

Kwon has recently been feeling the changed status of developers. As smartphones spread and all businesses moved to mobile, the demand for developers began to surge rapidly. Kwon started his career receiving a salary higher than the average for college graduates. Now, his salary has risen to about twice the average college graduate's level. Among his colleagues, he often hears talk about "changing companies."

Jeon Sanghyun (27, pseudonym), a second-year developer at a domestic unicorn company, is from the CompEng class of 2013. His choice was easy. He had been best at computers since childhood and felt it suited his aptitude. He thought he could make a living by going to the College of Engineering, and among the engineering departments, CompEng had the lowest cutoff score. Around the time Jeon entered university, Facebook was all the rage.

Jeon expected the demand for IT-related developers to increase further. Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) developers grew significantly after the 2016 match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol 9-dan. His colleagues say that was the turning point when the development industry took off again. The status of CompEng had completely changed between when he entered university and when he graduated.

Cho Hyuntae (25, pseudonym), a university student about to graduate from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at a metropolitan university, also shared the noticeably changed atmosphere of his department. Cho said, "When choosing a major, CompEng was the least popular among my peers, but now it has better employment prospects than semiconductor majors," adding, "I am considering which prestigious company to choose."

The value of developers who create apps and software is skyrocketing. Especially developers with about 2-3 years of experience and team leaders with over 10 years of experience are the top recruitment priorities for competing companies. Some companies have even surpassed an entry-level developer salary of 60 million KRW. It marks the heyday for CompEng graduates from the 2000s.

The signal for the rise in developers' value was first fired in the gaming industry. When Nexon, Netmarble, and Com2uS raised salaries by a uniform 8 million KRW, Krafton and Webzen increased developers' salaries and bonuses by as much as 20 million KRW. It was an emergency measure to prevent developers from leaving.

As manpower moved massively to newly emerging companies like Coupang, BigHit Entertainment, and Toss, even Naver and Kakao launched the largest-ever recruitment drives for developers. A Samsung Electronics software development executive moved to Coupang, marking a "big market" for securing developers.

The scouting war is expected to continue for the time being. An 11-year veteran developer working in the gaming industry said, "Requests for job changes are coming from non-gaming sectors like Coupang and Baedal Minjok, which previously did not hire developers on a large scale," and predicted, "The war to secure talent across industries?from gaming to distribution and finance?will continue."

Small and medium-sized game companies and IT firms are in a state of emergency. Since their entry-level developer salaries are only around 20 to 30 million KRW, it is inevitable that they will lose talent. On developer communities, complaints such as "I have over five years of experience but earn less than 60 million KRW, and hearing that entry-level developers get 60 million KRW makes me feel like I haven't done well" are appearing. This suggests that their migration is imminent.