6 High-Demand Industries for Software Engineers (That Aren’t Tech)

We’re in the digital age. No matter what you’re doing online — shopping, enjoying entertainment, getting healthcare from professionals, doing your taxes — there’s a software engineer (or a team of them) creating the solutions that make those things work.

As our world becomes increasingly reliant on technology,  the need for software engineers is even greater than the already hundreds of thousands of open roles within tech alone. Brands in almost every industry know the importance of making their products or services more accessible to the masses by creating web and mobile apps.

Budding and seasoned software engineers alike often find themselves looking directly to tech for open roles, but there are equal amounts of opportunities outside of traditional “tech” in industries and companies that could align with their passions, interests, and hobbies. These industries need tech-minded people to create their back- and front-end solutions to bring them into the tech era.

Let’s look at six non-technical industries needing software engineers:

6 non-technical industries needing software engineering help

Healthcare.

Healthcare, as an industry, is leaning heavily into more tech-friendly approaches to care. The creation and widespread adoption of telehealth has shown that companies and patients alike are open to these services, and they’ll only continue to improve.

With 3D printing and better imaging technology, we can also conduct patient care better in the case of treating and curing disease or injury. Creating software that allows doctors to look at the body closer can allow them to treat more effectively.

eCommerce/Retail.

No industry presents more opportunity for software engineers outside of tech than eCommerce. Brands are leaning heavily on online retail as the pandemic shuttered brick-and-mortar locations for a time, and many are seeing the benefit of saving money by focusing on online sales only, be that on a website or through a mobile app.

But opportunities for software engineers in eCommerce and retail go beyond working for individual brands. Companies like Shopify and BigCommerce are helping brands own the entire customer experience and shopping journey, not to mention the handful of CRMs and other tools brands use to better understand their customers and store their data.

This includes payment processors like PayPal and ShopPay, as well as buy-in-installment services like Klarna and Afterpay.

Fashion.

While similar to eCommerce, high fashion and couture brands are leveraging technology and data to better predict trends well in advance of showcasing them in collections.

One fashion professional writes about the integration of tech and fashion as she built out a data aggregator to better predict what would be in fashion next season and even years from now.

Fashion houses and brands can also develop pieces better and faster by coding machines and programs to do so.

Government.

The government has a massive need for software engineers. This includes both external-facing web pages and apps as well as internal (sometimes confidential!) projects. According to ZipRecruiter:

“Government software engineering jobs involve working at the local, state, or federal levels to provide assistance to an area or government agency. In this role, you may set up a network or system, develop customized software, or use testing techniques to see whether or not existing software and hardware are performing as expected.”

If policy and politics are of interest to you, it might be worth exploring roles in government both at the federal and state levels or in your community.

Finance.

Finance looks a lot different from when the stock market was the biggest change to modern commerce. Investing and the stock market are obviously still important today, but there are ample opportunities for people to help build and maintain the apps and websites that people use to invest, like Robinhood, NerdWallet, Ellevest, and more.

Now, we also have the blockchain to consider. Software engineers with a specialization in cybersecurity and blockchain technologies will have more opportunities than ever to create solutions and services for crypto and NFT trading and investing.

Beyond that, people have more control over their own finances than ever. Mobile banking, DIY taxes, and finding financial services online all present opportunities for software engineers to work in the finance industry.

Entertainment.

Have you ever thought about who’s creating the solutions for Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Twitch, YouTube, or TikTok? Then you might want to be a software engineer in the entertainment industry!

Streaming music, television, and movies is the new norm, and those services employ a ton of software engineers to keep the services working smoothly for users. Gaming is another massive industry, worth almost $200B, so creating games as well as the services to host or stream those games presents more opportunities.

But as tech grows smarter and better, the way we enjoy entertainment will rapidly change. It already has, but virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence will play a huge role in the way we interact with media, games, and entertainment moving forward. Developing the software to make those services run will open up many, many roles for software engineers.

Become a software engineer

You don’t have to work in “tech” to become a software engineer. Software engineering is a role that can align with your passions, hobbies, and interests. Whether you love entertainment, finance, or fashion, there is ample opportunity in any industry you want to work in.

With millions of open roles every year and not enough talent to fill them, there has never been a better time to be a software engineer. We can reskill you to become a software engineer in as little as four months — start here and read about our bootcamp programs.

We’re in the digital age. No matter what you’re doing online — shopping, enjoying entertainment, getting healthcare from professionals, doing your taxes — there’s a software engineer (or a team of them) creating the solutions that make those things work.

As our world becomes increasingly reliant on technology,  the need for software engineers is even greater than the already hundreds of thousands of open roles within tech alone. Brands in almost every industry know the importance of making their products or services more accessible to the masses by creating web and mobile apps.

Budding and seasoned software engineers alike often find themselves looking directly to tech for open roles, but there are equal amounts of opportunities outside of traditional “tech” in industries and companies that could align with their passions, interests, and hobbies. These industries need tech-minded people to create their back- and front-end solutions to bring them into the tech era.

Let’s look at six non-technical industries needing software engineers:

6 non-technical industries needing software engineering help

Healthcare.

Healthcare, as an industry, is leaning heavily into more tech-friendly approaches to care. The creation and widespread adoption of telehealth has shown that companies and patients alike are open to these services, and they’ll only continue to improve.

With 3D printing and better imaging technology, we can also conduct patient care better in the case of treating and curing disease or injury. Creating software that allows doctors to look at the body closer can allow them to treat more effectively.

eCommerce/Retail.

No industry presents more opportunity for software engineers outside of tech than eCommerce. Brands are leaning heavily on online retail as the pandemic shuttered brick-and-mortar locations for a time, and many are seeing the benefit of saving money by focusing on online sales only, be that on a website or through a mobile app.

But opportunities for software engineers in eCommerce and retail go beyond working for individual brands. Companies like Shopify and BigCommerce are helping brands own the entire customer experience and shopping journey, not to mention the handful of CRMs and other tools brands use to better understand their customers and store their data.

This includes payment processors like PayPal and ShopPay, as well as buy-in-installment services like Klarna and Afterpay.

Fashion.

While similar to eCommerce, high fashion and couture brands are leveraging technology and data to better predict trends well in advance of showcasing them in collections.

One fashion professional writes about the integration of tech and fashion as she built out a data aggregator to better predict what would be in fashion next season and even years from now.

Fashion houses and brands can also develop pieces better and faster by coding machines and programs to do so.

Government.

The government has a massive need for software engineers. This includes both external-facing web pages and apps as well as internal (sometimes confidential!) projects. According to ZipRecruiter:

“Government software engineering jobs involve working at the local, state, or federal levels to provide assistance to an area or government agency. In this role, you may set up a network or system, develop customized software, or use testing techniques to see whether or not existing software and hardware are performing as expected.”

If policy and politics are of interest to you, it might be worth exploring roles in government both at the federal and state levels or in your community.

Finance.

Finance looks a lot different from when the stock market was the biggest change to modern commerce. Investing and the stock market are obviously still important today, but there are ample opportunities for people to help build and maintain the apps and websites that people use to invest, like Robinhood, NerdWallet, Ellevest, and more.

Now, we also have the blockchain to consider. Software engineers with a specialization in cybersecurity and blockchain technologies will have more opportunities than ever to create solutions and services for crypto and NFT trading and investing.

Beyond that, people have more control over their own finances than ever. Mobile banking, DIY taxes, and finding financial services online all present opportunities for software engineers to work in the finance industry.

Entertainment.

Have you ever thought about who’s creating the solutions for Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Twitch, YouTube, or TikTok? Then you might want to be a software engineer in the entertainment industry!

Streaming music, television, and movies is the new norm, and those services employ a ton of software engineers to keep the services working smoothly for users. Gaming is another massive industry, worth almost $200B, so creating games as well as the services to host or stream those games presents more opportunities.

But as tech grows smarter and better, the way we enjoy entertainment will rapidly change. It already has, but virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence will play a huge role in the way we interact with media, games, and entertainment moving forward. Developing the software to make those services run will open up many, many roles for software engineers.

Become a software engineer

You don’t have to work in “tech” to become a software engineer. Software engineering is a role that can align with your passions, hobbies, and interests. Whether you love entertainment, finance, or fashion, there is ample opportunity in any industry you want to work in.

With millions of open roles every year and not enough talent to fill them, there has never been a better time to be a software engineer. We can reskill you to become a software engineer in as little as four months — start here and read about our bootcamp programs.

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