Competition for the best developer talent in South Africa is intense. Yet there has been a decrease in the past year in the number of developers actively looking to move jobs.

This is according to a new research report by OfferZen, which found that there has been a 16% decline in the number of South African developers looking for jobs and a 12% increase in those panning to stay in their current roles for the next five years.

OfferZen is a large South African developer jobs marketplace, and the findings are contained in the company’s 2022 State of the South Africa Software Developer Nation report, published earlier this week.

A good work/life balance is the top reason developers cite for staying in their current roles. Since last year, developers’ emphasis on work/life balance has increased by 10.8%, which means it has overtaken growth opportunities as the most important factor.

According to the report, earnings potential and challenging projects are key factors for developers, overtaking mentoring/coaching, new languages and frameworks, and company growth projections.

Overall, fewer South African developers are looking to leave their jobs this year than in 2021. At the same time, the majority is still open to finding new jobs locally and overseas, with one in five actively exploring opportunities internationally.

Remote work

Senior developers are the most likely to search for jobs overseas, while tech leads (professionals who oversee teams of technical personnel) are most likely to stay put.

The shift to remote work has opened new job options for developers. In 2022, one in five remote developers is working for a company in a different city than the one in which they live.