European
Tech Hiring Trends

ECONOMIC AND HIRING REVIEW

As the devastating effects of the global pandemic begin to subside, many economies are returning to a semblance of normalcy with renewed business investment and hiring. Across the 10 markets covered in this report, economic growth rate projections for the year range from higher-end growth in the 5.8% to 6.4% range for France, Romania and Spain, to those on the lower-end in the 3.5% to 3.6% range for the Netherlands, Poland and Germany.

Unemployment rates in many European countries never reached the levels seen in other markets during the height of the pandemic, such as the United States. As of yearend 2020, several markets were in a very low unemployment rate range, notably Czech Republic, Poland, Netherlands and Germany. Conversely, the unemployment rate remained elevated in Spain.

Job postings invariably align with the job roles employers are seeking to fill. Digging below the job role, however, reveals a number of common skill threads that span just about every technology job role these days. Employers frequently expect some level of cybersecurity, data, cloud, project management, and related technical skills. And, because of the intersection of technology and business (aka the business of technology), technologists must possess a solid foundation of soft skills in areas such as communications, emotional intelligence, collaboration, problem resolution and more.

Mirroring the pattern seen in most countries, the software developer occupation category accounts for the largest portion of job postings across the European countries covered in this report. Alternatively, during Q1 2021, there was more employer hiring activity around software positions relative to other categories. As a reminder, there is not a 1:1 relationship between hiring activity and actual hiring. For very competitive positions, such as an emerging field like artificial intelligence (AI) architect, employers may have to deploy significant hiring resources to recruit a single candidate, resulting in a skewed hiring activity to hiring ratio.

Hiring activity during Q1 also confirms the interrelated nature of technology. Software applications require a robust network infrastructure, data optimisation, systems integration, management and support, and of course, a strong cybersecurity posture. To achieve maximum return from technology investments, businesses require orchestration of not only the technologies but also the personnel, processes and workflows.

At the skills level, summary analysis across all job postings for all tech job roles suggests employers tend to seek well-rounded candidates. This also reflects the ever-expanding nature of innovation, whereby new platforms, new coding languages, new hardware and devices, new data streams and new combinations of technology building blocks (think IoT) are a de facto part of the job for any technology professional. In the leading technical skills table, there is representation across these areas, including software, infrastructure, data and business applications. While cybersecurity is not specifically listed in these top 10 skills, it is becoming increasingly common for employers to expect baseline cybersecurity expertise for all IT professionals.