Double-edged tech stack
Sorry, tech stack too boring.
Ever sent or received something like that? I have, once, sent this exact phrase.
It was in response to a recruiter who seemed very nice and was obviously trying his best. The tech stack in question I seem to recall being the latest Java (not LTS), latest Spring, microservices on AWS, the newest Angular, and new MongoDB... It was clearly written in a way to be attractive to developers who want the latest and greatest, who are bored of being stuck with legacy libraries and SDKs. The writer of the ad, perhaps the previously mentioned recruiter, hadn't understood that the tech stack choice is a double-edged blade.
Technology choices in software development impact how easy or hard it is to recruit new people to work on it - this much I would think no one would dispute. Exactly how it works may be counter-intuitive to some, though.
From a business perspective, you want to minimize risk to future hiring by choosing common technologies, or at least technologies common in the geographical area you are located.
If you choose more exotic technologies instead, you may be surprised to discover that the quality and type of applicants will be different - and in a good way. Software developers of high caliber will more often than not also write software in their spare time because they like it. This seems well understood by the sector in general, going so far as to requiring a link to a GitHub account page when applying to jobs, even though this also works against recruiting because not everyone can or wants to publish.
Some develop preferences for less common technologies, having found a better tool for at least certain tasks or one more suitable to their way of thinking. These are the developers you will see when choosing more exotic technologies. It's self-selection for those who went out of their way to find what they like - and you likely also scare off the "bog standard" applicants who only learn as much as is needed for the job.
This is the double edge of the tech stack choice from a hiring perspective:
- Choose a common stack: Get common developers. Easier to find, lower average skill due to anti-self-selection from passionate developers.
- Choose a more exotic stack: Get uncommon developers. Harder to find, higher average skill.
Which choice is the correct one?
It depends.