State of Tech Hiring — Q4 2026
Comprehensive hiring analysis for Q4 2026: 22,154 listings, 236 companies, salary data and skill movements.
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Datamata Studios
Comprehensive hiring analysis for Q4 2026: 22,154 listings, 236 companies, salary data and skill movements.
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Q4 2026 tech hiring report: 22,154 job listings analysed across 236 companies. Skill demand rankings, salary data and quarter-over-quarter trends.
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22,154 listings analysed · 236 companies · October 01 – December 31, 2026
Q4 2026 tech hiring data spans 22,154 active listings across 236 companies, with AI Agents dominating quarter-over-quarter growth across every major discipline. The skill posted its sharpest rise in AI & Machine Learning at +16.7 percentage points, followed by Product & Design at +12.1 percentage points, Software Engineering at +8.9 percentage points, Security at +7.8 percentage points and Data & Analytics at +3.5 percentage points — while Git surged +4.4 percentage points in DevOps & Infrastructure. On the decline, MLflow fell 2.4pp, Angular dropped 1.3pp and Datadog slipped 1.1pp, signalling reduced employer demand for these once-staple tools heading into 2027.
Key movements this quarter:
Q4 2026 tech hiring spans 22,154 listings across 236 companies, with demand concentrated heavily in Software Engineering at 8,497 listings. Data & Analytics follows at 5,038 listings, while DevOps & Infrastructure accounts for 2,967. AI & Machine Learning, at 2,431 listings, outpaces both Product & Design (1,904) and Security (1,317), signalling where companies are directing headcount growth beyond core engineering.
5,038 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 7.1% | +2.6 percentage points |
| 2 | Databricks | 6.2% | +3.1 percentage points |
| 3 | Azure | 6.1% | +2.6 percentage points |
| 4 | ETL | 6.0% | +2.0 percentage points |
| 5 | Data Modeling | 5.2% | +1.0 percentage point |
8,497 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 13.8% | +1.5 percentage points |
| 2 | Java | 13.7% | +1.0 percentage point |
| 3 | Javascript | 9.3% | +2.3 percentage points |
| 4 | AI Agents | 8.9% | +8.9 percentage points |
| 5 | CI/CD | 8.0% | +2.5 percentage points |
1,904 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI Agents | 12.1% | +12.1 percentage points |
| 2 | Llms / Genai | 10.2% | -0.6 percentage points |
| 3 | Figma | 9.8% | +3.2 percentage points |
| 4 | A/b Testing | 9.7% | -0.1 percentage points |
| 5 | Agile / Scrum | 6.1% | +2.8 percentage points |
2,967 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 19.4% | +1.0 percentage point |
| 2 | CI/CD | 18.4% | +3.5 percentage points |
| 3 | Kubernetes | 15.4% | +3.2 percentage points |
| 4 | Azure | 13.1% | -0.6 percentage points |
| 5 | Git | 9.0% | +4.4 percentage points |
1,317 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 16.9% | +4.9 percentage points |
| 2 | Incident Response | 12.8% | +4.0 percentage points |
| 3 | GCP | 8.9% | +3.1 percentage points |
| 4 | AI Agents | 7.8% | +7.8 percentage points |
| 5 | Azure | 7.7% | +2.3 percentage points |
2,431 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI Agents | 16.7% | +16.7 percentage points |
| 2 | AWS | 7.9% | +2.3 percentage points |
| 3 | Fine Tuning | 5.5% | +0.5 percentage points |
| 4 | Deep Learning | 4.9% | — |
| 5 | A/b Testing | 4.6% | -0.3 percentage points |
Quarter-over-quarter skill shifts in Q4 2026 tell a clear story about where the market is moving. AI Agents dominates the biggest-riser list across multiple categories, posting gains of +16.7 percentage points in AI & Machine Learning, +12.1 percentage points in Product & Design, +8.9 percentage points in Software Engineering and +7.8 percentage points in Security. On the other side, MLflow (-2.4 percentage points), Angular (-1.3 percentage points) and Datadog (-1.1 percentage points) each lost meaningful ground, pointing to consolidation in tooling preferences.
| Rank | Skill | Change | Current Demand | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI Agents | +16.7 percentage points | 16.7% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 2 | AI Agents | +12.1 percentage points | 12.1% | Product & Design |
| 3 | AI Agents | +8.9 percentage points | 8.9% | Software Engineering |
| 4 | AI Agents | +7.8 percentage points | 7.8% | Security |
| 5 | AWS | +4.9 percentage points | 16.9% | Security |
| 6 | Git | +4.4 percentage points | 9.0% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 7 | Incident Response | +4.0 percentage points | 12.8% | Security |
| 8 | CI/CD | +3.8 percentage points | 7.4% | Security |
| 9 | AWS Security | +3.7 percentage points | 7.3% | Security |
| 10 | AI Agents | +3.6 percentage points | 3.6% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| Rank | Skill | Change | Current Demand | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mlflow | -2.4 percentage points | 0.1% | Product & Design |
| 2 | Angular | -1.3 percentage points | 2.6% | Software Engineering |
| 3 | Datadog | -1.1 percentage points | 1.6% | Product & Design |
| 4 | ETL | -0.9 percentage points | 0.5% | Product & Design |
| 5 | Hugging Face | -0.7 percentage points | 2.4% | AI & Machine Learning |
| Skill | Demand | QoQ Change | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Agents | 3.5% | +3.5 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| Databricks | 6.2% | +3.1 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| AI Agents | 8.9% | +8.9 percentage points | Software Engineering |
| AI Agents | 12.1% | +12.1 percentage points | Product & Design |
| Figma | 9.8% | +3.2 percentage points | Product & Design |
Compensation varies sharply across tech categories in Q4 2026, with a gap of nearly $70,000 between the lowest and highest category medians. Product & Design leads all categories at a median of $182,500, while Software Engineering follows at $160,000. Data & Analytics sits at the lower end of the range with a median of $113,351, giving job seekers a concrete picture of where salary ceilings differ most dramatically.
| Category | IQR Range | Median | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data & Analytics | $70,696 – $159,699 | $113,351 | 200 listings |
| Software Engineering | $107,250 – $190,000 | $160,000 | 200 listings |
| Product & Design | $131,772 – $214,182 | $182,500 | 200 listings |
| DevOps & Infrastructure | $102,194 – $175,740 | $133,204 | 200 listings |
| Security | $85,756 – $167,933 | $125,462 | 200 listings |
| AI & Machine Learning | $118,942 – $195,000 | $148,356 | 200 listings |
Data is sourced from public job listings on Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby career pages. Listings are ingested daily, normalized into six role categories and analyzed for skill-level demand share and quarter-over-quarter movement.
AI Agents is the standout skill this quarter, rising across AI & Machine Learning, Product & Design, Software Engineering and Security simultaneously. The gains range from +7.8 percentage points in Security to +16.7 percentage points in AI & Machine Learning, making it the single most broadly accelerating skill in the Q4 2026 job market. Software Engineering remains the largest hiring category by volume, so core engineering skills continue to drive raw listing counts.
Q4 2026 salary data shows a wide spread across tech categories, from a median of $113,351 in Data & Analytics to $182,500 in Product & Design. AI & Machine Learning roles carry a median of $148,356, reflecting strong compensation for specialists in that field. This report captures medians rather than averages, so these figures represent the midpoint of actual listed compensation across 22,154 listings.
Software Engineering is the top hiring category this quarter with 8,497 listings, nearly double the next largest category. Data & Analytics ranks second at 5,038 listings, followed by DevOps & Infrastructure at 2,967. Together these three categories account for over 74% of all 22,154 listings tracked across 236 companies in Q4 2026.
Published October 01, 2026. Data refreshed daily.
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