If you're working with ASP.Net in 2016, you use MVC.

And if you don't, you should rethink.

A bold statement but true - due to the multi-platform capability of MVC, it has replaced Webforms as the extension of choice, something that happened back in 2008/9. Not all companies made the switch immediately because the recession had made many reluctant to take risks. By 2012, the recovery well underway, businesses were more cash-rich and ready to roll the dice on upgrading their technologies.

Since then, we've noticed more requirements including MVC as a "must-have" and, over the last year, every single .Net requirement we have taken has also demanded MVC - it has gone from being a bonus to being a necessity.

Developers are aware that this is happening. Knowing that it is in high demand, .Net developers without MVC are switching jobs in order to gain experience and keep their skill set relevant. Contractors are accepting permanent roles on the proviso that they will be given the opportunity to gain MVC skills. Development workers without MVC fear that not having this skill will damage their job prospects and market value - and rightly so. Any developers who don't gain this skill soon may find themselves obsolete within this ever-evolving market.

Skills come and go but the rise of MVC has been rapid and absolute - very few other skills have become "industry norms" in the way MVC has. Not working with MVC will leave businesses falling behind their competition, so every forward-thinking company without MVC in place is looking for experienced developers to help bring them up to speed.

This demand is high for both contractors and employees. Generally, clients bring contractors in to update existing projects and permanent staff then maintain and build upon it. Either that or clients are simply scrapping what they have currently and starting from scratch with MVC built in from the word go.

The only real weakness that MVC has is that it is not great for SEO but, with V6 around the corner, this is something that will hopefully be addressed. As with any hot skill, high demand for the skill will plateau in the next few years (or sooner if a more effective product comes along) as enough people have experience of MVC to satisfy customer demand. But, by then, it will have become so commonplace that developers without MVC skills will compare unfavourably with their peers.