DEVOPSdigest

The term "bug," meant to describe glitches in software, dates back to 1947 when engineers at Harvard found a moth stuck to computer components. The moth, found between relay contacts and causing the computer to malfunction, was famously recorded by Grace Murray Hopper in her log book as "first actual case of bug being found."

Today, 70 years later, software testing is an increasingly vital part of nearly every business in industries across the board because of the widespread adoption of digitization, automation, and emerging technologies. And so, software testing service providers, which work across a broad spectrum of industries in tech, find themselves with a unique window into the software of these businesses and their development cycles.

QualiTest recently compiled a data report analyzing software testers globally. The report details the Quality Assurance and Software Testing job market, one of the fastest growing job markets and a bellwether of tech employment due to QA's involved in nearly every conceivable industry.

The questions posed before compiling the data were the following:

■ How has the state of software testers evolved?

■ What are the global and gender differences within the software testing community?

■ What skills must software testers possess, and how do they compare to past requirements?

The report's highlights include:

■ Globally, the software testing community is split 66 percent male and 34 percent female.

■ The breakdown of specific countries brought interesting results. China, at 42 percent female testers, has the highest percentage of female testers. However, the US has the highest number of female testers. At 28 percent female testers, the UK has the lowest percentage.

■ The country with the highest concentration of software testers is Ireland, followed by the US, Canada, and Israel.

■ Looking at the size of companies that employ software testers, QualiTest found that more than a third of software testers work at companies with more than 10,000 employees, and more than half work at companies larger than 1,000 employees.

■ Two thirds of all software testers work in the high technology industry. Half of the high technology software testers work in information/technology services and another 30 percent work in computer software. The industries that follow are: manufacturing, government, finance, consumer goods, and corporate services.