Look, I’ve been doing this for more than 15 years now, and I’ve never seen it this crazy. Yes, even with all the AI going on…

The mobile app market just crossed $300 billion in 2025, and projections by Statista say we’re heading toward $600-700 billion by 2032. 

That’s mind-blowing growth.

Here’s what I’m seeing every single day: companies from every industry you can imagine want their own apps. 

From my kids’ school wanting a parent portal to the local bakery down the street planning a delivery app. 

It seems like everyone needs developers.

The problem? 

There simply aren’t enough skilled people to go around. I have clients literally competing for the same candidates, sometimes within hours of each other. 

The companies that win are the ones who move fast and know exactly what they’re looking for.

Why Speed Actually Matters (And I’m Not Just Saying This)

The average tech hire takes 41 days according to Glassdoor. 

That’s almost six weeks! Meanwhile, your competitors are already interviewing and making offers.

I’ve watched this happen too many times: A client finds a perfect candidate on Monday, wants to “think about it” until Friday, and by Wednesday the developer has three other offers. It’s brutal out there.

When you hire quickly, you get:

  • Your app launched faster (obviously)
  • First pick of the best people
  • Fewer headaches during development
  • A team that actually wants to work together

The reality is that good developers take the first solid offer. If your process drags beyond three weeks, you’re probably losing people to companies who can decide faster.

Start With Actually Knowing What You Need

I can’t tell you how many times clients call me saying “we need a mobile developer” without knowing anything else. What kind of app? For whom? Which platforms?

This wastes everyone’s time.

Half my clients end up rewriting job descriptions mid-search because they didn’t think it through.

Stack Overflow says 60% of hiring managers do this, and it can add weeks to your timeline.

Before we even start looking, I make my clients answer:

  • What type of clients do you serve?
  • iOS, Android, or both?
  • Do you need Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native? (This matters more than you think)
  • How urgent is it?

Get clear on this stuff and you’ll cut your hiring time by 30%.

I’ve seen it work hundreds of times.

Where I Actually Find Developers (The Real Answer)

People always ask me this. They think there’s some secret platform I use. Truth is, I use everything. You can’t rely on just LinkedIn anymore.

My go-to places:

LinkedIn works great for experienced people—it’s huge with 875 million users.

Stack Overflow shows me actual code developers have written, not just what they claim on a resume.

GitHub is gold for checking if someone can actually collaborate on projects.

Toptal gets you the top 3% of freelancers but they’re pricey.

AngelList is perfect for startup roles.

TechFetch uses AI matching which honestly saves me hours.

But, the most important strategy that beats all of the above ideas, is my database of developers.

A database of developers I have been honing for years.

But here’s my secret weapon: referrals and bootcamp connections.

These close faster and the culture fit is usually better. When developers recommend their friends, they’re putting their reputation on the line.

Those candidates show up motivated.

Make Your Hiring Process Not Suck

Candidates talk to each other. If your process is a nightmare, word gets around fast in developer communities.

I always tell clients to use an ATS—Applicant Tracking System. It filters resumes by skills, schedules interviews automatically, and keeps everything organized.

Connect it to coding platforms like HackerRank and you’ll speed things up by 30% (Gartner backs this up).

During interviews, test real skills, not theoretical knowledge. I ask questions like “How would you fix performance issues in a Flutter app?”

You see how they think, how they communicate, whether they’d fit your team.

Keeping Good People Is Harder Than Finding Them

Hiring someone is just step one. Keeping them is what builds great teams. I’ve placed developers who left within six months because companies forgot about them after the hire.

Developers stay when they feel valued.

Give them:

  • Training on new technologies
  • Recognition when they do good work
  • Regular salary reviews (market rates change constantly)
  • Mentorship and clear growth paths
  • Flexibility—this generation values work-life balance

Keeping one senior developer an extra year saves you roughly $30,000 in recruiting and training costs. I’ve done the math with my clients many times.

Stay Current or Get Left Behind

The tech world moves fast. What was hot two years ago might be outdated now. I spend hours every week reading about new frameworks—Kotlin Multiplatform, Jetpack Compose, SwiftUI. These shape what skills matter.

What’s coming:

AI coding tools are changing how developers work. Cross-platform development is taking over. Data privacy regulations mean more security specialists. IoT apps are connecting everything. DevOps skills are becoming standard, not optional.

Gartner predicts 35% growth in cross-platform developer demand by 2026. Companies adopting Flutter and React Native need these people badly.

Bottom Line From Someone Who Does This Daily

After 15 years placing thousands of developers, I can tell you this: winning candidates isn’t luck. It’s about being clear on what you need, moving fast without cutting corners, and treating people like humans, not resources.

The companies I work with who do this well? They build strong teams while their competitors are still posting job ads and hoping.

Be clear.

Be fast.

Be decisive.

Your next great developer is probably interviewing somewhere else right now—make sure it’s with you.

 

References:

📊 Statista

Topic: Mobile App Market Forecast 2023–2032
🔗 https://www.statista.com/statistics/269025/worldwide-mobile-app-revenues/
(Shows global app revenue growth and forecast trends up to 2032.)

💻 Stack Overflow

Topic: 2024 Developer Survey
🔗 https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/
(Covers developer hiring trends, skill demand, and work preferences.)

🧠 Gartner Talent Insights (2024)

Topic: Global IT Hiring and Developer Demand Report
🔗 https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/trends/future-of-it-talent
(Analyzes tech talent trends, demand for cross-platform developers, and hiring benchmarks.)

🤝 LinkedIn Talent Insights

Topic: Workforce & Retention Data
🔗 https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/talent-insights
(Provides real-time hiring, retention, and compensation benchmarks.)

💼 Glassdoor Hiring Report (2024)

Topic: Average Time-to-Hire and Cost per Hire
🔗 https://www.glassdoor.com/research/time-to-hire-in-2024/
(Explains hiring timelines and financial impact of delays across industries.)