Should post faster
Still gathering requirements...
Job design is key to retaining good staff. Sadly, there are lots of permanent roles in software development that have little in the way of accountabilities or involvement with the business, just a technical resource picking up tickets from an agile board. I worked in HR systems for a large bank and the main reasons people gave in their exit questionnaires included low job satisfaction or a lack of career prospects; few left for more money. If managers want to retain IT staff, they need to offer exciting, varied roles with genuine prospects for career development.
Fingers like lightning
I agree I started off as a software developer when i was perm and I moved into BI (now also doing some data migrations) for that very reason. Software development was too far away from the business and was a thankless job. In BI it's completely different. Very close relationship to the business and lots of exposure.
Obviously now as a contractor maybe it doesn't matter as much anymore.