Mobile app development could be the hottest tech job right now

Many may be partially right to adjudge that jobs in artificial intelligence are machine learning fetch handsome salaries, but to write off mobile developers' jobs would be a folly. In tech jobs, mobile application developers are in high demand now.

From booking tickets to calling a cab or buying groceries, there are apps catering to and customised for all segments of the society. And rightly so,  mobile application development, be it Android or iOS, is the hottest skill right now given the amount of mobile apps we use on a day-to-day basis.

It is hardly a surprise that companies are investing significantly in developing apps and even less surprising that they are willing to pay for the talent irrespective of their degree.

Let us take the case of M Vellaiyan*. Vellaiyan, 24, is an engineering graduate college from a college in a village in Coimbatore. When asked for the college name, he quips, "My college is one of the few hundred colleges and so little known that even people in the city are not have not heard of it." He agrees that it was a surprise that they even had placements and was hired by a mobile application development company in Karnataka that pays him Rs 30,000 per month.

“But now I realise that I’m much underpaid for the job I’m doing. My friend who is in the same job at a different company gets Rs 50,000 per month and another friend, who is just a year senior is demanding Rs 16 lakh per annum,” he explains.

Market for mobile application is growing by leaps and bounds. According to a report by Market Research Future, the industry is growing at the CAGR of 14 per cent since 2016 and is expected to be a $100 billion market by 2022. This growth is driven by increase in smartphone adoption, changing lifestyle and corporate that are adopting to this. While the US is dominating the app development space, the report states that Asia Pacific market is expected to grow with the highest CAGR led by India and China as smartphone adoption poised to grow further.

This means that there is more need now than ever for the app developers and companies are more than willing to pay for the talent. According to report by Business of Apps, mobile app revenue worldwide in 2016 was $885 billion. While the average salary for such jobs is highest in the US at $107,000 per year, it is slowly picking up in India. Right now the report estimates the average salary for an Indian mobile app developer at at $4,100 per year.

Other perks

But pay is not the only perk the job offers though. Apart from getting to travel within India and overseas, the job opportunities overseas are pretty high.

Melvin Singaram* is an app developer. He is now travelling to Japan to develop a mobile application for an Indian startup that is launching its operation overseas. He would be staying there for six months and is quite excited about it. Vellaiyan is likely to travel to Canada on a different project in the coming months. "It is not confirmed yet but my fingers are crossed," he said, anxiously.

In the meantime he is also looking for job opportunities overseas especially in the US, Singapore or even Japan, where the demand is high.

Vellaiyan’s confidence is not without reason.

*names changed to protect identity