Microsoft .NET Developers in Short Supply: Dice Report

Dice research indicates tech professionals who regularly develop for .NET earn about $83,000 a year.

According to research from Web-based IT hiring specialist Dice.com, there's a shortage of talent for a particular skill in every geographic section of the United States and if novices are looking to break into the tech industry, it's also an accessible entry point. It's the technology that the site's Managing Director Alice Hill said developers "love to hate"-Microsoft's .NET.

Part of the gap between supply and demand is that technology workers are concerned that if they specialize in .NET application development, they will not be able to easily branch out to other platforms, Hill said. Another worry among technology professionals is the money gap. Dice research indicates tech professionals who regularly develop for .NET earn about $83,000 a year, compared with more than $91,000 for those specializing in Java.

"More than 10 years into .NET, it's safe to say tech professionals will not be pigeonholed. Likewise, demand is there-one of the most frequent refrains we hear from clients is distress in trying to find .NET talent and they've posted more than 10,000 positions requesting .NET experience," Hill wrote on the company's blog. "That job count is up more than 25 percent as compared to last year, faster growth than total jobs posted on Dice. If demand continues to outstrip supply, wages will adjust."

Another way to look at the .NET shortage conundrum, Hill explained, is that it's a relatively straightforward framework to learn, and hiring managers and recruiters consistently chase midcareer talent. However, 27 percent of searches in the Dice resume database that included both .NET and years of experience were for talent with less than three years of experience. In addition, 46 percent of resume searches were for 4 to 7 years of experience, 21 percent were looking for 8 to 10 years of experience, and just 6 percent required 10 or more years of experience.

"The bottom line? Companies are looking for .NET talent and targeted talent featuring C# and .NET will not get lost in the shuffle," Hill said. "But negotiate hard at the outset of a new job, because that initial salary may set the base for the next three years."

As of Oct. 1, Dice reported the number of available tech jobs stood at 83,567, with 50,486 listed as full-time positions, 35,907 as contract positions and 1,603 as part-time positions. The New York/New Jersey metro area led the list for most technology jobs listed, with 9,156, an 8 percent jump from the same period last year. The Washington, D.C./Baltimore metro area placed second, posting a 6 percent rise in job availability. Silicon Valley, Chicago and Los Angeles rounded out the top 5, with increases of 22 percent, 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively.