State of Tech Hiring — Q1 2026
Comprehensive hiring analysis for Q1 2026: 3,147 listings, 105 companies, salary data and skill movements.
Quick Answer
Q1 2026 tech hiring report: 3,147 job listings analysed across 105 companies. Skill demand rankings, salary data and quarter-over-quarter trends.
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- Format
- Quarterly Report
- Reading time
- 5 min
- Last updated
- March 29, 2026
- Primary topic
- quarterly-report
3,147 listings analysed · 105 companies · January 01 – March 31, 2026
Executive Summary
Q1 2026 tech hiring activity spans 3,147 active listings across 105 companies, with no major skill declines recorded — demand is broadly expanding. The steepest quarter-over-quarter rises are in Product & Design and DevOps & Infrastructure, led by Stakeholder Management (+75.2 percentage points), AWS (+53.0 percentage points) and Terraform (+49.2 percentage points). SQL jumped +42.9 percentage points in Data & Analytics, AWS climbed +32.6 percentage points in Software Engineering and emerging skills including Node.js, Power BI, React and Kafka are entering job listings at scale for the first time this quarter.
Key movements this quarter:
- SQL surged +42.9 percentage points in Data & Analytics
- AWS surged +32.6 percentage points in Software Engineering
- Stakeholder Mgmt surged +75.2 percentage points in Product & Design
- AWS surged +53.0 percentage points in DevOps & Infrastructure
- Excel surged +37.7 percentage points in Security
By Category
Demand is spread across 6 categories, with 1,681 listings in the largest segment. Here is how each category breaks down.
Data & Analytics
366 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SQL | 42.9% | +42.9 percentage points |
| 2 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 39.1% | +39.1 percentage points |
| 3 | Python | 36.9% | +36.9 percentage points |
| 4 | Excel | 28.1% | +28.1 percentage points |
| 5 | AWS | 28.1% | +28.1 percentage points |
Software Engineering
1,681 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 32.6% | +32.6 percentage points |
| 2 | Machine Learning | 11.2% | +11.2 percentage points |
| 3 | Spark | 9.8% | +9.8 percentage points |
| 4 | Llms / Genai | 8.2% | +8.2 percentage points |
| 5 | Rust | 7.9% | +7.9 percentage points |
Product & Design
545 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 75.2% | +75.2 percentage points |
| 2 | Excel | 50.8% | +50.8 percentage points |
| 3 | Scala | 30.1% | +30.1 percentage points |
| 4 | A/b Testing | 20.4% | +20.4 percentage points |
| 5 | Prototyping | 14.3% | +14.3 percentage points |
DevOps & Infrastructure
132 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS | 53.0% | +53.0 percentage points |
| 2 | Terraform | 49.2% | +49.2 percentage points |
| 3 | Kubernetes | 49.2% | +49.2 percentage points |
| 4 | Scala | 37.9% | +37.9 percentage points |
| 5 | CI/CD | 35.6% | +35.6 percentage points |
Security
151 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Excel | 37.7% | +37.7 percentage points |
| 2 | Node.js | 31.1% | +31.1 percentage points |
| 3 | Go | 30.5% | +30.5 percentage points |
| 4 | GCP | 25.8% | +25.8 percentage points |
| 5 | Scala | 24.5% | +24.5 percentage points |
AI & Machine Learning
272 active listings
| Rank | Skill | Demand | QoQ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Llms / Genai | 47.8% | +47.8 percentage points |
| 2 | Machine Learning | 40.4% | +40.4 percentage points |
| 3 | AWS | 39.3% | +39.3 percentage points |
| 4 | Stakeholder Mgmt | 35.7% | +35.7 percentage points |
| 5 | Python | 34.6% | +34.6 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 | Stakeholder Mgmt | +75.2 percentage points | 75.2% | Product & Design |
| 2 | AWS | +53.0 percentage points | 53.0% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 3 | Excel | +50.8 percentage points | 50.8% | Product & Design |
| 4 | Terraform | +49.2 percentage points | 49.2% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 5 | Kubernetes | +49.2 percentage points | 49.2% | DevOps & Infrastructure |
| 6 | Llms / Genai | +47.8 percentage points | 47.8% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 7 | SQL | +42.9 percentage points | 42.9% | Data & Analytics |
| 8 | Machine Learning | +40.4 percentage points | 40.4% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 9 | AWS | +39.3 percentage points | 39.3% | AI & Machine Learning |
| 10 | Stakeholder Mgmt | +39.1 percentage points | 39.1% | Data & Analytics |
Emerging Skills
| Skill | Demand | QoQ Change | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node.js | 18.3% | +18.3 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| Power BI | 3.8% | +3.8 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| Excel | 28.1% | +28.1 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| React | 3.3% | +3.3 percentage points | Data & Analytics |
| Kafka | 7.7% | +7.7 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 | $144,000 – $201,650 | $166,500 | 61 listings |
| Software Engineering | $175,000 – $233,750 | $208,250 | 200 listings |
| Product & Design | $167,500 – $245,000 | $202,000 | 86 listings |
| DevOps & Infrastructure | $185,132 – $208,708 | $208,708 | 11 listings |
| Security | $183,150 – $237,262 | $216,000 | 24 listings |
| AI & Machine Learning | $158,400 – $231,000 | $208,708 | 12 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 Q1 2026?
The top skills this quarter include Stakeholder Mgmt, AWS, Excel based on demand share across 3,147 active listings.
How have tech salaries changed in Q1 2026?
Salary medians range across categories, with published compensation data drawn from listings across 105 companies in Q1 2026.
Which tech categories are hiring the most right now?
Across 6 tracked categories, the highest volume comes from Software Engineering roles.
Published March 29, 2026. Data refreshed daily.
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