This ‘best job’ of 2023 pays over $100K, offers remote opportunities and doesn’t require a degree
A growing wave of layoffs might be sweeping through Silicon Valley, but the hottest job on the market right now is in tech: full-stack developer.
Full-stack developers claimed the top spot in Indeed's annual ranking of the "best jobs" in the U.S., thanks to a strong 10-year outlook and increasing demand for these skilled professionals across several industries. Indeed also assessed salary and the percentage of remote/hybrid job opportunities, among other criteria.
Not only does this job pay well — the average mean salary for full-stack developers is $129,637, per Indeed's research — but it also offers a lot of workplace flexibility. At least 50% of the listings for full-stack developers on Indeed's database have remote or hybrid options.
The demand for full-stack developers, whose main responsibilities include building the front end and back end of a website or application, writing code and maintaining the software, has transcended the tech sector in recent months.
"We're seeing the highest job availability and opportunity for full stack developers, almost twice as much as any other roles on this list," Kristen Shah, a career expert at Indeed, says. "When it comes down to it, every company today is a tech company — and full-stack developers possess a unique skill set that can benefit companies beyond the tech industry."
Health care, education, finance, e-commerce and government, all of which need full-stack developers to build up their businesses' online presence, are just some of the industries hiring for these positions "like crazy," according to Megan Slabinski, a Seattle-based tech jobs expert at Robert Half.
What sets full-stack developers apart from other tech talent, Slabinski explains, is that the job title has become a "catch-all phrase" that companies use when they're amalgamating multiple roles, such as frontend developer, backend developer and application support specialist, into one.
"More and more, companies have been hiring full-stack developers to reduce headcount on their application, development or general web teams," she adds. "They have a deep understanding of web applications — they can be versatile and work on a wide variety of projects, and can often find creative solutions to technical problems."
While the pace and prevalence of digital transformation has been steadily increasing over the past decade, the Covid-19 pandemic "poured gasoline on traditional business models of organization and accelerated this trend — as well as the need for technologists, like full-stack developers — to keep up with this transformation," Slabinski says.
You can become a full-stack developer without a college degree.
Most hiring managers prioritize technical expertise over educational background, Slabinski says, looking for skills such as writing code, using programming languages like Python or Javascript and designing applications or websites, on your resume.
If you're interested in picking up some basic tech skills, you can build your expertise through online courses, coding bootcamps or certificate programs.
Check out:
The 10 fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. right now—many pay over $100,000 a year
'Quiet hiring' could mean more contract positions: 7 in-demand roles paying from $16 up to $48/hour
Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletter