State of Tech Hiring — Q2 2026
Comprehensive hiring analysis for Q2 2026: 9,019 listings, 214 companies, salary data and skill movements.
Quick Answer
Q2 2026 tech hiring report: 9,019 job listings analysed across 214 companies. Skill demand rankings, salary data and quarter-over-quarter trends.
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- Format
- Quarterly Report
- Reading time
- 5 min
- Last updated
- June 26, 2026
- Primary topic
- quarterly-report
9,019 listings analysed · 214 companies · April 01 – June 30, 2026
Executive Summary
Q2 2026 tech hiring activity spans 9,019 active listings across 214 companies, with demand shifting sharply toward visualization and front-end skills. Tableau led all quarter-over-quarter gains at +3.4 percentage points in Data & Analytics, while Angular (+2.8 percentage points), C# (+2.4 percentage points) and Spring (+2.2 percentage points) drove the strongest momentum in Software Engineering. On the other side, Scala collapsed -37.5 percentage points, Excel fell -36.7 percentage points and Stakeholder Management dropped -35.4 percentage points, signaling a broad retreat from generalist and legacy skill requirements in active job listings.
Key movements this quarter:
- Tableau surged +3.4 percentage points in Data & Analytics
- Angular surged +2.8 percentage points in Software Engineering
- Datadog surged +2.2 percentage points in Security
- Scikit Learn surged +2.2 percentage points in AI & Machine Learning
By Category
Demand is spread across 6 categories, with 3,514 listings in the largest segment. Here is how each category breaks down.
Data & Analytics
2,172 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SQL | 17.2% | -25.9 percentage points |
| 2 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 9.5% | -29.7 percentage points |
| 3 | Spark | 6.1% | -7.7 percentage points |
| 4 | AWS | 5.7% | -22.5 percentage points |
| 5 | Statistical Analysis | 5.5% | -6.9 percentage points |
Software Engineering
3,514 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Python | 16.3% | -3.1 percentage points |
| 2 | AWS | 15.6% | -16.7 percentage points |
| 3 | React | 12.7% | — |
| 4 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 12.2% | -13.1 percentage points |
| 5 | SQL | 12.1% | -8.9 percentage points |
Product & Design
778 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 41.4% | -33.8 percentage points |
| 2 | Llms / Genai | 13.6% | -4.4 percentage points |
| 3 | SQL | 11.4% | -3.5 percentage points |
| 4 | Prototyping | 11.3% | -3.2 percentage points |
| 5 | User Research | 7.5% | -5.5 percentage points |
DevOps & Infrastructure
1,125 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 19.0% | -34.0 percentage points |
| 2 | Azure | 16.5% | -13.8 percentage points |
| 3 | CI/CD | 15.8% | -19.8 percentage points |
| 4 | Terraform | 14.5% | -34.7 percentage points |
| 5 | Python | 11.1% | -13.9 percentage points |
Security
547 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Python | 13.2% | -28.8 percentage points |
| 2 | Incident Response | 11.9% | -12.8 percentage points |
| 3 | Siem | 10.6% | -8.1 percentage points |
| 4 | GCP | 8.8% | -17.2 percentage points |
| 5 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 8.6% | -35.4 percentage points |
AI & Machine Learning
883 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Python | 18.8% | -15.4 percentage points |
| 2 | Pytorch | 10.8% | -10.9 percentage points |
| 3 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 10.1% | -25.6 percentage points |
| 4 | AWS | 7.9% | -32.2 percentage points |
| 5 | Deep Learning | 7.9% | -9.7 percentage points |
Skill Movements
Quarter-over-quarter skill demand shifts highlight where the market is heading. The tables below rank skills by the size of their movement.
Biggest Risers (Quarter-over-Quarter)
| Rank | Skill | Change | Current Demand | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tableau | +3.4 percentage points | 3.4% | Data & Analytics |
| 2 | Angular | +2.8 percentage points | 2.8% | Software Engineering |
| 3 | C# | +2.4 percentage points | 3.9% | Software Engineering |
| 4 | Spring | +2.2 percentage points | 2.2% | Software Engineering |
| 5 | Datadog | +2.2 percentage points | 2.2% | Security |
| 6 | Scikit Learn | +2.2 percentage points | 2.2% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 7 | Rest API | +2.1 percentage points | 2.1% | Software Engineering |
| 8 | Datadog | +1.9 percentage points | 1.9% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 9 | Vue | +1.5 percentage points | 1.5% | Software Engineering |
| 10 | Agile / Scrum | +1.4 percentage points | 4.1% | Software Engineering |
Biggest Declines
| Rank | Skill | Change | Current Demand | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scala | -37.5 percentage points | 0.4% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 2 | Excel | -36.7 percentage points | 1.3% | Security |
| 3 | Stakeholder Mgmt | -35.4 percentage points | 8.6% | Security |
| 4 | Terraform | -34.7 percentage points | 14.5% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 5 | AWS | -34.0 percentage points | 19.0% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
Emerging Skills
| Skill | Demand | QoQ Change | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tableau | 3.4% | +3.4 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
Salary Snapshot
Compensation data drawn from listings with published salary bands. Figures show the interquartile range and median for each category.
| Category | IQR Range | Median | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data & Analytics | $83,675 – $155,581 | $119,050 | 200 listings |
| Software Engineering | $117,725 – $205,000 | $160,417 | 200 listings |
| Product & Design | $76,044 – $200,375 | $144,000 | 200 listings |
| DevOps & Infrastructure | $66,847 – $146,044 | $100,846 | 200 listings |
| Security | $58,559 – $162,500 | $104,438 | 200 listings |
| AI & Machine Learning | $88,814 – $190,175 | $141,323 | 200 listings |
Methodology
All figures come from continuously refreshed ATS job feeds (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby). Skill demand is calculated as category-level mention rate across active listings, with salary metrics derived from postings that include compensation bands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most in-demand tech skills in Q2 2026?
The top skills this quarter include Tableau, Angular, C# based on demand share across 9,019 active listings.
How have tech salaries changed in Q2 2026?
Salary medians range across categories, with published compensation data drawn from listings across 214 companies in Q2 2026.
Which tech categories are hiring the most right now?
Across 6 tracked categories, the highest volume comes from Software Engineering roles.
Published June 26, 2026. Data refreshed daily.
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