Software Developer Hiring Trends in England, United Kingdom

This report was last updated on Jul 13, 2025

Bence Gedai

Founder

I analyze live hiring data and tech job trends across Europe to give CTOs and Product Leaders a strategic edge. By tracking tens of thousands of open roles each week, I uncover which skills, roles, and locations are in highest demand — potential competitors, typical time to hire, talent pool sizes, and more to help you prioritize hiring, benchmark and stay competitive in a fast-moving market.

Key learnings from this report

The software engineers job market trends in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, showcase a notable fluctuation in job openings over the past three months, with a peak of 14 new openings identified, underscoring the competitive nature of the software job market in the region.
A total of 74 companies are actively hiring software engineers in the UK, with Canonical, Arm, and JPMorganChase being the top three companies leading the demand within the sector, indicating strong recruitment activity in the technology landscape.
The current talent pool presents challenges for hiring managers, as the low ratio of available candidates to job openings emphasizes the heightened competition for software developer positions in the UK compared to other European countries.
London remains the predominant city for software engineer job openings, accounting for an impressive 90% of the market share, while Manchester and Leeds offer emerging opportunities for tech talent.
The median time to hire for software engineers in the UK stands at 29 days, highlighting a competitive hiring landscape that mandates efficient recruitment strategies to attract and onboard qualified candidates swiftly.

Number of roles opened and closed for Software Engineers in England in the last 3 months

In the United Kingdom, England, the software engineering job market has demonstrated notable fluctuations over the past 12 weeks. A peak in new job postings was observed in week 21 with 14 openings, while a significant number of positions were closed, culminating in 10 closed jobs in week 23. This highlights a concerning trend of job closures potentially outpacing openings during certain weeks. Compared to other European regions, the software developer opportunities in the UK indicate a competitive landscape, necessitating strategic recruitment approaches for CTOs and hiring managers to attract top talent.

Who else is hiring for software Engineers in United Kingdom:

Company name	Country	Industry	Founded	# Job openings
Canonical	United Kingdom	Information Technology & Services	2004	74
TieTalent	Switzerland	Information Technology & Services	2017	56
Bending Spoons	Italy	Information Technology & Services	2013	40
targetjobs UK	null	null	null	29
Mindrift	United States	Information Technology & Services	null	27
Arm	United Kingdom	Semiconductors	1990	26
JPMorganChase	United States	Financial Services	null	23
Oliver Bernard	United Kingdom	Staffing & Recruiting	2010	22
GRAYCE	United Kingdom	Management Consulting	2012	21
Amazon	United States	Information Technology & Services	1994	21

Here are a few specialized software agencies you can trust:

Want to get personalized matches? Get started

Talent pool vs job openings for Software Engineers in United Kingdom

How competitive it is to hire Software Engineers in United Kingdom

The software engineer job market trends in the United Kingdom England reveal a challenging landscape for hiring managers, with a significant imbalance between job openings and the available talent pool. As of the latest data, the UK has a comparatively low ratio of talent pool to job openings, indicating a tighter market for recruitment. In contrast, countries such as Poland and Germany exhibit a healthier balance, where the ratio suggests more readily available candidates. Similarly, France maintains a competitive ratio that may ease the hiring process for companies seeking software developers. Given these insights, recruitment strategies for CTOs in the United Kingdom England's tech sector may need to adapt to the increasing competition for senior software developers and implement innovative approaches to attract talent.

Seniority distribution of Software Engineer job openings in England

Seniority Distribution of Software Engineering Jobs in England

In the United Kingdom's software engineering job market, the distribution of roles indicates a strong demand for Mid-Senior level candidates, comprising 58% of the positions. This is followed by Associate level roles at 10% and Entry level positions at 9%. The significant concentration of demand for Mid-Senior level software engineers suggests an opportunity for hiring managers to strategically focus their recruitment strategies on this demographic to align with current hiring trends across the technology landscape.

Preferred employment type for Engineering roles in United Kingdom

The employment type distribution for engineering roles in the United Kingdom indicates a robust preference for Full-time positions, accounting for 91% of the job market. Contract roles follow, comprising 8% of available opportunities, while Part-time positions represent only 2% of the workforce. This data underscores the stable demand for Software Engineers, a key factor for hiring managers looking to navigate the software job market in United Kingdom England.

Time to Hire Distribution for Software in United Kingdom

How long does it take to hire Software Engineers

The time to hire distribution for software jobs in the United Kingdom reveals critical insights for hiring managers in the tech sector. Notably, the most common time to hire is between 25 to 30 days, with 1,960 positions filled within this timeframe, indicating a competitive yet dynamic software job market. Furthermore, significant volumes exist for hiring at 10 days (1,316 counts) and 15 days (1,156 counts), suggesting that swift recruitment can yield high-quality candidates. In contrast, more prolonged hiring durations are observed at 40 days and beyond, where counts drop significantly, illustrating a potential bottleneck that hiring managers should mitigate. Understanding these hiring trends is essential for CTOs and recruiters aiming to refine their recruitment strategies in the ever-evolving landscape of software developer opportunities in England.

Expolore reports from other European Developer talent pools

Insights for hiring Perl Engineers in Istanbul

The Software Perl Engineers job market in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul, shows a dynamic but competitive environment, with an average of 4.08 new jobs posted weekly over the past 12 weeks.

View Report

Insights for hiring Software Engineers in Portugal

The Software Engineers job market in Portugal is dynamic, displaying notable fluctuations over recent months, with peak job openings of 1,031 roles in week 21 before a decline to 196 in week 30.

View Report

Insights for hiring Perl Engineers in Amsterdam

The Software Perl Engineers job market in Netherlands Amsterdam has revealed significant fluctuations, with a peak of 11 new roles created during week 22, indicating an increasing demand for this specialization.

View Report

View All Job Reports

Most popular cities in United Kingdom to hire Software Engineers

Top 5 cities in United Kingdom to hire Software Engineers

The distribution of Software Engineer job openings in the United Kingdom, as illustrated in the accompanying chart, highlights a significant concentration in London, which accounts for 90% of the total relevant positions. Following London, Manchester and Leeds represent 8% and 1% of the job market respectively, indicating a pronounced demand for Software Engineers in the capital while other cities present emerging opportunities.

Most sought after technologies in England for Software

Key technologies for Software Engineers

The software job market in the United Kingdom, specifically England, demonstrates a robust preference for a select range of technologies that are critical for hiring decisions. Notably, JavaScript tops the list with 7,682 mentions, closely followed by Python, which holds a significant presence with 8,771 occurrences. Java and C# are also highly favored, with frequencies of 9,703 and 5,465, respectively. Other important technologies include SQL at 4,770 and React, which has been noted 5,922 times. For a detailed breakdown of these technologies and their prevalence in job listings, please refer to the accompanying chart.

Have a great project in mind?

We've identified 100+ world-class agencies, drop us a line if you'd like to work with them.