A new global survey of 600 CIOs and IT decision-makers commissioned by Salesforce’s MuleSoft reveals that organizations find it challenging to attract and retain the skilled developers needed to drive digital transformation. The survey was conducted to better understand the repercussions organizations will experience if there’s no action to improve developers’ work state. The report found that as demand for faster innovation continues to rise, today’s skill shortage is piling pressure on already-stretched teams, creating the risk of developers tapping out — and leaving businesses’ infrastructure at heightened risk.

Key findings include that retaining and recruiting talent is harder than ever before. In fact, 93% say the Great Resignation has made it more difficult for their IT teams to retain skilled developers and 86% say it has become more difficult to recruit them in the last two years. Additionally, information overload can be alleviated with automation tools and technologies, as 91% of organizations say they need solutions that automate critical processes for developers to do more with less. Lastly, employees want to feel empowered by their organizations to upskill themselves. The survey found 90% of organizations say empowering more individuals across the business to integrate apps and data for themselves would significantly reduce pressure on developers and accelerate transformation.

Organizations recognize the need to empower the wider workforce to take some strain away from developers. Empowering a team is best achieved by encouraging the growth of business technologists – employees from outside the IT department who can play a more active role in digital transformation — while IT maintains security and control. The report’s findings can help IT leaders scale their teams and give their developers and entire workforce what they need to succeed.

Read the full report by Salesforce and Mulesoft.