Tech hiring is no longer confined to Silicon Valley. According to the Mendix 2020 Software Developer Drought Index, counties in New Jersey, South Dakota and Mississippi have the largest gaps between tech jobs and available talent. 

“The Software Developer Drought Index shows that companies need to think differently about how and where to engage skilled tech workers in 2021 and beyond,” Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix, said in a statement. “Traditional development paradigms basically fall apart when you’re dealing with mobile or remote workflows.”

As the cost of living continues to skyrocket in traditional tech hotspots like San Francisco and New York, tech workers might start migrating to low-cost areas with a plethora of jobs and a lack of talent. The COVID-19 pandemic, which is turning many people off from high-population areas, could make more remote areas popular as well.

Cumberland County, NJ, which is near Philadelphia, had the highest demand for software developers in the U.S., according to the report. Minnehaha County in South Dakota and Pontotoc County in Mississippi came in second and third, respectively. The report noted that while tech hotspots like Silicon Valley have more tech demand, they also have the talent to match. 

At a state level, South Dakota had the largest gap between tech jobs and talent, while Utah came in second and Nebraska came in third. 

Financial services companies are among those looking to hire tech talent away from traditional hotspots. PayPal has a LinkedIn job posting for a backend software engineer based out of Pierre, South Dakota, while Jack Henry is looking to hire a software engineer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In Utah, meanwhile, companies like Varo Money, Goldman Sachs and Brex all have offices. 

See also: Utah: The fintech frontier

Boston-based Mendix is a subsidiary of Siemens. The company’s low-code platform helps clients develop their own software solutions. Its clients include PostNL, Chubb and eXp Realty. The drought index analyzed more than 2,000 job ads for U.S. software developers in July and 3 million U.S. households.

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