For digital builders, technology tools make or break the job

API-first tech is essential to developer and digital marketer satisfaction. In new research, learn why top digital talent prefer working with API-first tech and working for companies that offer it.
85% of respondents said they would leave a job or consider doing so based on dissatisfaction with the software and tools they had to use.

Digital Builder Survey 2022

Attract and retain top talent

As the Great Resignation evolves into the Great Reshuffle, companies search for ways to attract and retain the best talent. That’s especially true when it comes to digital builders — the developers and digital marketers tasked with building digital experiences for customers and other end users.

A recent survey by Contentful found that for digital builders the technology a company uses is essential to attracting and retaining top talent as well as enabling that talent to meet increasingly ambitious company goals. Seventy percent of digital builders said the technology a company uses is “very important” to their decision to take a job. Even more — 85% — said they would leave a job or consider doing so based on dissatisfaction with their software and tools. 

When it comes to these tech savvy employees, access to the best tools not only keep builders satisfied but also demonstrate that their employers care about their happiness. Two-thirds (66%) of digital builders indicated that the software they use impacts their job satisfaction “a lot.” Nearly two-thirds (65%) also said that the software and tools their company gave them to work with was a direct reflection of how they value them as an employee.

In the increasingly distributed workforce, it is no longer office perks like ping pong tables or free lunch that create an employee-centric culture. Employees simply want to work with the best tools to do their jobs. Those tools are what allow some companies to command the best talent and meet their most ambitious goals, while others are left to create workarounds for aging technology and navigate the ensuing employee attrition.

Download the report to learn what attracts digital builders.

70.2% say the software a company provides is “very important”

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94% feel the technology they use often limits their creativity and innovation

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Technology enables talent

  • Driven by impact

    Digital builders are motivated by creating the experiences of the future. Yet 94% said their ability to be creative and innovative in their work is sometimes or often limited by the technology they have to work with.

  • Distracted by mundane tasks

    Innovation takes time but isn’t where most builders get to focus: 61% of digital builders spend more than half of theirs on administrative tasks, leaving less time for creating and innovating.

  • Delayed by maintenance

    A quarter of digital marketers (24%), in particular, say that the majority of their work time is spent on content maintenance. An additional 39% said they spend as much time on content maintenance as content creation.

  • Technology turns challenges into innovation

    Faced with growing demand for omnichannel content, 60% of digital marketers are excited rather than intimidated by the challenge.

  • Software choice impacts jobs satisfaction

    The freedom to choose makes a huge impact on how digital builders feel about the work they do. 68% say the ability to decide which software they use impacts their job satisfaction “a lot.”

  • Ambitious goals require technology investment

    Over three-quarters (78%) of digital builders believe their company needs to adopt new technology to enable employees to deliver against the company’s ambitious goals.

61% of respondents say they spend more than half their time on administrative tasks rather than creative or innovative efforts.

Digital Builder Survey 2022

Learn how to attract top digital talent
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