State of Tech Hiring — Q2 2026
Comprehensive hiring analysis for Q2 2026: 3,326 listings, 116 companies, salary data and skill movements.
3,326 listings analysed · 116 companies · April 01 – June 30, 2026
Executive Summary
Q2 2026 tech hiring spans 3,326 active listings across 116 companies, with demand concentrated in cloud, data and cross-functional skills. The sharpest quarter-over-quarter gains belong to Stakeholder Management (+79.2pp in Product & Design), SQL (+77.1pp in Data & Analytics) and AWS (+75.4pp in DevOps & Infrastructure), signalling that employers are prioritising both technical fluency and business alignment simultaneously. Emerging skills including dbt, Airflow, scikit-learn and Ruby are appearing across job listings for the first time this period, with no significant skill categories recording major declines.
Key movements this quarter:
- SQL surged +77.1pp in Data & Analytics
- AWS surged +57.6pp in Software Engineering
- Stakeholder Mgmt surged +79.2pp in Product & Design
- AWS surged +75.4pp in DevOps & Infrastructure
- AWS surged +73.8pp in Security
By Category
Demand is spread across 6 categories, with 1,784 listings in the largest segment. Here is how each category breaks down.
Data & Analytics
380 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SQL | 77.1% | +77.1pp |
| 2 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 76.1% | +76.1pp |
| 3 | Python | 71.6% | +71.6pp |
| 4 | AWS | 53.9% | +53.9pp |
| 5 | Excel | 43.2% | +43.2pp |
Software Engineering
1,784 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 57.6% | +57.6pp |
| 2 | Scala | 54.8% | +54.8pp |
| 3 | Excel | 47.6% | +47.6pp |
| 4 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 46.7% | +46.7pp |
| 5 | Node.js | 36.5% | +36.5pp |
Product & Design
571 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 79.2% | +79.2pp |
| 2 | Excel | 51.8% | +51.8pp |
| 3 | AWS | 44.5% | +44.5pp |
| 4 | Scala | 33.3% | +33.3pp |
| 5 | Node.js | 32.6% | +32.6pp |
DevOps & Infrastructure
142 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 75.4% | +75.4pp |
| 2 | Kubernetes | 69.0% | +69.0pp |
| 3 | Terraform | 64.1% | +64.1pp |
| 4 | CI/CD | 49.3% | +49.3pp |
| 5 | GCP | 45.8% | +45.8pp |
Security
168 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 73.8% | +73.8pp |
| 2 | Python | 50.0% | +50.0pp |
| 3 | Excel | 42.3% | +42.3pp |
| 4 | Incident Response | 32.7% | +32.7pp |
| 5 | GCP | 27.4% | +27.4pp |
AI & Machine Learning
281 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Llms / Genai | 73.0% | +73.0pp |
| 2 | Machine Learning | 64.4% | +64.4pp |
| 3 | AWS | 61.2% | +61.2pp |
| 4 | Python | 53.4% | +53.4pp |
| 5 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 52.0% | +52.0pp |
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 | Stakeholder Mgmt | +79.2pp | 79.2% | Product & Design |
| 2 | SQL | +77.1pp | 77.1% | Data & Analytics |
| 3 | Stakeholder Mgmt | +76.1pp | 76.1% | Data & Analytics |
| 4 | AWS | +75.4pp | 75.4% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 5 | AWS | +73.8pp | 73.8% | Security |
| 6 | Llms / Genai | +73.0pp | 73.0% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 7 | Python | +71.6pp | 71.6% | Data & Analytics |
| 8 | Kubernetes | +69.0pp | 69.0% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 9 | Machine Learning | +64.4pp | 64.4% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 10 | Terraform | +64.1pp | 64.1% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
Emerging Skills
| Skill | Demand | QoQ Change | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | 3.2% | +3.2pp | Data & Analytics |
| Scikit Learn | 6.1% | +6.1pp | Data & Analytics |
| DBT | 18.7% | +18.7pp | Data & Analytics |
| Airflow | 20.3% | +20.3pp | Data & Analytics |
| Stakeholder Mgmt | 76.1% | +76.1pp | 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 | $144,000 – $185,220 | $166,500 | 66 listings |
| Software Engineering | $175,000 – $231,000 | $208,250 | 200 listings |
| Product & Design | $167,500 – $245,000 | $203,000 | 86 listings |
| DevOps & Infrastructure | $205,000 – $225,550 | $208,708 | 12 listings |
| Security | $193,500 – $221,500 | $216,000 | 21 listings |
| AI & Machine Learning | $158,400 – $231,000 | $208,708 | 12 listings |
Methodology
This report aggregates daily snapshots from Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby postings. We classify roles by category, extract skills from listing text and compute demand as percentage share of active listings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most in-demand tech skills in Q2 2026?
The top skills this quarter include Stakeholder Mgmt, SQL, Stakeholder Mgmt based on demand share across 3,326 active listings.
How have tech salaries changed in Q2 2026?
Salary medians range across categories, with published compensation data drawn from listings across 116 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 April 05, 2026. Data refreshed daily.