Turkey: 30,000 software developers started working for companies abroad in 2021

30,000 software developers left Turkish companies last year to work abroad, essentially because of low salaries and long working hours, the chair of Turkey's Software Industrialists Association (YASAD) said.

Speaking to Bloomberg HT, Gonul Kamali warned that this number may reach 100,000 if there is no substantial improvement in salary levels and working conditions.

"While most of the software companies in Turkey are unable to pay $1,000 to a new graduate, the companies in Europe and US offer at least $2,500," Kamali noted. "It's not possible for us to catch up in this competition with our incomes in TL."

She added that the situation was unlikely to change in the short term, and that there should be more software developer training programs.

She pointed out that long working hours was one of the most important factors that led software developers to look for employment abroad, while another factor was diminishing company loyalty because of remote working.

She said that when somebody quit working for a company and could not be replaced, the remaining members of the team were faced with an overload of work.

"If you are content with the work of a software developer, you usually go ahead and ask for the CVs of the colleagues of that person," she continued. "30% of recruitment is made through associations. So when a person quits a job, this usually means that five more will follow within a year."

Kamali noted that while software companies in Turkey have grown by 20% annually, the workforce has diminished by 10% in the same period of time.