The U.S. needs workers — millions of them. Fractional employment and flexible hiring models offer a scalable path forward.
The U.S. needs workers. Millions of workers. The labor shortage is not going away — and the conventional hiring playbook is not built to solve it.
The numbers are stark. At peak, job openings in the U.S. reached 11.5 million — compared to roughly 7 million pre-pandemic. For a period, there were almost two open positions for every unemployed worker. That ratio has no modern precedent.
The problem predates COVID-19. In software development and other high-skill fields, demand was already outpacing supply in 2019. The pandemic accelerated what was already a structural imbalance rather than creating a new one.
Structural labor shortage: a sustained imbalance between labor demand and supply caused by demographic and policy forces — not cyclical economic conditions. Unlike a recession-driven unemployment spike, a structural shortage cannot be resolved by waiting out the business cycle. It requires deliberate expansion of effective labor supply.
The roots run deeper than most headlines acknowledge. Record job openings are partly the result of pandemic-era retirements that permanently removed experienced workers from the labor force. Immigration slowdowns reduced a historically important source of new supply. These forces compound over time and are not self-correcting.
In software, recruiters have resorted to increasingly aggressive tactics — cold outreach volumes measured in hundreds of messages per hire, signing bonuses, equity sweeteners, remote-work flexibility. The industry lately resembles a merry-go-round: one developer joins while another leaves, and net supply stays flat.
This is the zero-sum problem. If the total pool of available workers is fixed, every company fighting harder for talent is simply redistributing an unchanged supply. Retention strategies, compensation increases, and improved recruiting platforms all compete for the same finite pool. None of them adds a single worker to the available workforce.
| Response | What it does | Effect on total supply |
|---|---|---|
| Better recruiting | Competes harder for existing workers | None — zero-sum redistribution |
| Higher compensation | Attracts workers away from competitors | None — still redistributive |
| Offshore / gig platforms | Adds non-U.S. labor or project workers | Partial — quality and coordination trade-offs |
| Fractional / halftime work | Unlocks spare capacity in employed workforce | Additive — creates net new hours |
The only real fix is supply. That means adding workers who are not currently in the market — either through immigration, or by accessing capacity from workers who are already employed but have time available.
When building HiddenLevers, Praveen Ghanta made a deliberate decision to bootstrap — which meant no room to waste capital on hiring mistakes. The solution was hiring developers on a halftime basis while letting them retain their existing full-time jobs. For Praveen, this was a natural model: he had done developer contract work on the side for years before founding HiddenLevers.
The result was a genuine win-win. HiddenLevers gained access to senior developers with capacity and genuine commitment. Those developers monetized their free time without the instability of gig-to-gig work. About a third of the HiddenLevers development team operated on a halftime basis over more than a decade. Turnover among that group: essentially zero. Several cycled through different day jobs but maintained their halftime engagement with HiddenLevers throughout.
Fraction matches you with vetted, senior engineers who work halftime — committed, embedded, and ready to ship.
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Based on Fraction’s research, the addressable pool is substantial. There are almost 5 million Americans employed in computer and mathematical occupations, with adjacent fields like UI/UX design and product management adding significantly to that number.
In interviews with hundreds of developers, Fraction found that roughly 40% expressed genuine interest in halftime positions — in addition to, not instead of, their full-time work. Of those interested, screening and interviews revealed that about one in three has the combination of technical skill and self-management discipline needed to be effective in a structured halftime role.
The math: 5 million developers, 40% interested, one-third qualified — yields approximately 500,000 potential halftimers in software development alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects over 400,000 additional software developers will be needed by 2030. A qualified halftime pool of 500,000 would cover roughly 60% of that projected demand — without adding a single new entrant to the workforce.
Software gets the most attention because the shortage is most acute and most visible there. But the underlying dynamics apply across professional fields. Millions of Americans in finance, marketing, operations, legal, and design roles have spare capacity that current employment structures leave untapped.
The vision behind Fraction is to normalize 0.5-job, 1-job, and 1.5-job arrangements across the professional economy. A senior financial analyst who works full-time but has evenings free. A marketing strategist who wants structured part-time engagement without the chaos of freelancing. An experienced operator who is between roles and prefers a halftime commitment to a full-time search.
Each of these represents additive supply — workers who are not currently available to employers through traditional channels. Tapping that capacity at scale, across industries, is a structural solution to a structural problem. It is not the only answer, but it may be the most accessible one — and the one that creates the best outcome for both companies and the workers themselves.
The labor shortage has deep structural roots. Pandemic-era retirements removed a large cohort of experienced workers permanently from the workforce. Immigration slowdowns reduced a key source of new labor supply. And in fields like software development, demand was already outpacing supply before the pandemic. Together these forces have pushed job openings to record levels — over 11.5 million at the peak — with nearly two open positions for every unemployed worker.
Fractional employment taps spare capacity in the existing workforce. Many skilled professionals — including software developers — are employed full-time but interested in structured halftime engagements. By normalizing 0.5-job arrangements, companies gain access to senior talent that the traditional hiring market cannot deliver. Research suggests as many as 500,000 developers alone could be available for halftime work, which would cover a significant share of projected demand growth.
Better recruiting is a zero-sum game when total supply is fixed. One company hiring a developer means another loses one. Recruiting platforms, higher salaries, and improved retention strategies all compete for the same finite pool. The only real fix is increasing effective supply — either by adding new workers through immigration, or by unlocking capacity from workers who are already employed but have time available.
Software development was near shortage even before the pandemic. By 2030, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects over 400,000 additional software developers will be needed. Healthcare, skilled trades, and logistics face similar dynamics. These are fields where demand is structurally growing — driven by technology adoption, an aging population, and infrastructure investment — while supply pipelines are slow to respond.
Yes. At HiddenLevers, Praveen Ghanta ran a development team where roughly a third of engineers worked halftime for over a decade — with zero turnover among that group. Many cycled through different day jobs but maintained their halftime engagement consistently. The model works because it offers developers monetized free time without the instability of gig work, and offers companies senior talent with genuine commitment.
Based on Fraction’s research, approximately 40% of the nearly 5 million Americans in computer and mathematical occupations express interest in halftime positions. Of those, about one in three has the technical and self-management skills to be effective in a structured halftime role. That yields a qualified pool of roughly 500,000 potential halftimers in software alone — enough to cover approximately 60% of the projected 2030 software developer shortfall.
Praveen Ghanta is a five-time founder and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of DevHawk.ai, an AI-powered engineering management platform, and Fraction.work, which connects fast-growing companies with top fractional tech and growth marketing talent. Previously, he founded HiddenLevers, a risk analytics platform for wealth management that he bootstrapped from inception to acquisition by Orion Advisor Solutions in 2021, serving thousands of advisors and $600B in assets. He earlier founded SmartWorkGroups, acquired by Intralinks in 2000.
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