Software Engineer Hiring Trends

How demand for Software Engineer roles at startups is changing, measured as a share of all startup job postings so it reflects hiring rather than how many startups we track.

Share of startup postings: 5.4%; Last 12 months
Change in share: -3.5%; From 5.6% the 12 months before
Startups hiring: 1,332; Established startups, last 12 months

Demand over time

Software Engineer jobs made up 5.4% of startup job postings in the last 12 months, down from 5.6% in the 12 months before. 1,332 established startups hired for the role, down 8.6% from 1,457.

Software Engineer share of startup job postings

Per quarter since Q1 2017.

Show the data

Quarter	Share of postings
Q1 2017	4.6%
Q2 2017	4.9%
Q3 2017	5.1%
Q4 2017	5.3%
Q1 2018	4.9%
Q2 2018	5.0%
Q3 2018	5.4%
Q4 2018	5.0%
Q1 2019	4.9%
Q2 2019	5.0%
Q3 2019	5.3%
Q4 2019	5.2%
Q1 2020	5.6%
Q2 2020	7.4%
Q3 2020	7.3%
Q4 2020	6.2%
Q1 2021	6.1%
Q2 2021	5.8%
Q3 2021	6.0%
Q4 2021	5.7%
Q1 2022	5.7%
Q2 2022	5.8%
Q3 2022	5.9%
Q4 2022	5.7%
Q1 2023	5.0%
Q2 2023	4.8%
Q3 2023	4.7%
Q4 2023	4.8%
Q1 2024	4.4%
Q2 2024	5.5%
Q3 2024	5.8%
Q4 2024	5.4%
Q1 2025	5.6%
Q2 2025	5.5%
Q3 2025	5.9%
Q4 2025	6.2%
Q1 2026	6.2%
Q2 2026	5.3%
Q3 2026	4.8%

Where Software Engineer jobs are

48.1% of Software Engineer postings in the last 12 months were in United States, where the role made up 5.5% of all startup postings.

Top countries, last 12 months

Country	Share of Software Engineer postings	Share of the country's postings
United States	48.1%	5.5%
India	11.4%	12.1%
Canada	5.5%	6.9%
United Kingdom	5.1%	4.4%
Germany	2.6%	3.0%
Poland	2.3%	10.8%
Brazil	1.4%	4.3%
Spain	1.3%	5.2%
Australia	1.1%	3.9%
France	1.0%	2.7%

Methodology

Trends come from job postings on startup.jobs, sourced from startups' career pages and jobs posted directly by employers. Employers our vetting rejected or couldn't confirm as startups are left out.
We keep adding startups, so posting counts grow even when hiring doesn't. Every trend is therefore a share of all startup postings in the same period, which stays comparable as coverage grows.
Broad catch-all titles such as Manager or Specialist are left out of role rankings.
Quarterly shares start in 2017 and cover complete quarters. Changes compare the last 12 full months with the 12 before.

For salaries, remote work, and AI hiring, see the startup hiring statistics.