Hiring outlook, remote working rates, and which companies are actively recruiting.
Software Engineer hiring in the UK is being driven by the NHS and public sector's digital delivery programmes expanding outside London, with demand concentrated in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh. Amazon and Google are among the more consistent UK hirers, and engineers with strong system-design fundamentals stay in short enough supply that post-Brexit visa sponsorship routes are a regular fallback when the domestic pipeline runs short.
Share of United Kingdom Software Engineer roles advertising remote or hybrid working.
We will publish a year-on-year pay change for Software Engineer in United Kingdom once a comparable annual benchmark is available.
Strongest in: Retail and e-commerce engineering teams, led by employers such as Amazon and Google
Software Engineer hiring in the UK is being driven by the NHS and public sector's digital delivery programmes expanding outside London, with demand concentrated in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh. Amazon and Google are among the more consistent UK hirers, and engineers with strong system-design fundamentals stay in short enough supply that post-Brexit visa sponsorship routes are a regular fallback when the domestic pipeline runs short.
Who companies hire: Computer science degree or equivalent self-taught programming skills are the baseline. The Irish and UK market is largely language-agnostic at the point of entry, though Python, TypeScript, and Java dominate hiring volumes.
Salary premium over the United Kingdom median for Software Engineers who list these skills.
Companies with consistent or active Software Engineer hiring in United Kingdom.
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Yes, consistently. Software Engineer is the most advertised technical role in the Irish market. The recovery from 2023 tech layoffs is complete for mid-to-senior levels, and demand for engineers with system design and distributed systems experience is at a multi-year high.
Google, Meta, and Stripe hire at the highest volume among large tech companies. HubSpot, Intercom, and Workday are consistent hirers at the mid-senior level. Mastercard and Citi hire engineers for their Dublin tech hubs. At growth stage, Clio and Wayflyer have been active.
Around 76% of Software Engineer roles advertise hybrid or fully remote working. The rate is slightly lower than the pandemic peak but has stabilised well above pre-2020 levels. Fully remote roles are more common at startups and product companies than at financial services or enterprise companies.
Go and Rust command the highest individual premiums, around 20%. Distributed systems expertise and cloud architecture, particularly AWS, add 15 to 18%. System design interview readiness, which is a proxy for senior-level capability, directly affects the level at which companies hire and therefore the salary offered.