2022 

State of
Software
Engineers
 Overview from Hired’s CEO 2

2022 State
of Software Amid the ongoing tech talent shortage and record-high demands from
Engineers
Introduction companies eager to fill open roles, software engineers on Hired received
Key Findings

Top Software
more than twice the amount of interview requests on average in 2021
than they did in 2020.
Engineering Skills

Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market This competitive hiring market continues to put pressure on companies
Demand by
Company Size to offer compelling salaries and benefits and extend their talent search
What Motivates
Software Engineers to hire remote software engineers outside of big tech hubs, expanding
and distributing teams globally.
What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary

For software engineers, upskilling is key to thrive in this global job

market and the more specialized their skill set, the higher the demand
and salary.

Josh Brenner
CEO of Hired
 Introduction 3

2022 State
of Software In this report, we analyzed data from over 366,000 interactions
Engineers
Introduction between companies and software engineers on Hired's marketplace.
Key Findings

Top Software
To uncover the latest trends in the field, we also surveyed over 2,000
software engineer candidates on Hired. We studied the most in-
Engineering Skills

Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand demand skills and roles, salaries across markets, shifts to remote hiring
Trends by Market

Demand by
Company Size
away from tech hubs, and what matters most to software engineers
What Motivates
Software Engineers
when considering a new job.
We hope this report gives software engineers the insights and resources
What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary
to advance their careers – or start a career in the field – while providing
employers with actionable takeaways on how to better attract and retain
tech talent. Here are some of the key findings:
 Key findings 4

2022 State
of Software
Skills are the new currency in this For the second year in a row, the most in-demand skill was Go, with “Go-skilled”
Engineers global job market: software engineers receiving 1.8x more interview requests compared to the
Introduction
marketplace average.
Key Findings • Here are the top in-demand skills for software engineers and
Top Software engineering managers, as well as skills to successfully work remotely.
Engineering Skills

Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market

Demand by
Company Size
The cybersecurity talent shortage is The rise of cyber attacks led more companies to prioritize their security strategies.
What Motivates Thus, security engineers are in high demand and currently receive the highest
Software Engineers driving up demand and salaries for
security engineers: average salary out of all software engineering roles.
What's Next?

Methodology & • Here is typical compensation compared to 2020 and the skills needed to become a
Glossary
security engineer.

Companies are hiring more full
stack engineers:
They are the highest in-demand role and showed the highest increase in interview
requests compared to other software engineering roles. The reason? Companies seek
to maximize their engineering team’s efficiency and navigate team fluctuations in
this volatile job market and shifting economy.
• Read more about the most demanded roles here.
 Key findings 5

2022 State
of Software
Remote salaries increase across As software engineers have more options to work for companies across the globe,
Engineers all markets with the shift to Canada and the U.K. are catching up to the U.S. to offer more competitive salaries.
Introduction global hiring: On the city level, smaller regions also saw higher salary growth compared to big tech
Key Findings
hubs.
Top Software • Here is what software engineers make on average in different cities and where they
Engineering Skills
have seen the highest salary growth between 2020 and 2021.
Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market

Demand by
Company Size
A shift towards hiring Software engineers across all markets received more interview requests for remote
What Motivates roles than for local ones in 2021 compared to 2020. When open to remote work,
Software Engineers remote software engineers
in smaller markets: software engineers even received 20% more interview requests overall than
What's Next?
candidates who are not.
Methodology &
Glossary
• Here are the regions hiring remotely most aggressively and where local talent
continues to be in demand.

Increased pressure for
enterprises to stay competitive
as startups see an unprecedented
level of funding and growth:
Smaller companies are quickly catching up with compelling pay and benefits to
attract and hire top talent in this competitive market – bringing pay on par with
enterprises with an average annual salary of $155k for software engineers in 2021.
• Here is the average compensation for software engineers at small, mid-sized, and
large companies.
 Key findings 6

2022 State
of Software
Software engineers want Besides solving public health issues amid the ongoing pandemic, software engineers
Engineers to continuously learn, be are also excited about enhancing the future of work through technology and
Introduction challenged in their role, and providing better access to education and upskilling opportunities.
Key Findings solve meaningful problems: • Here is what motivates software engineers the most.
Top Software
Engineering Skills

Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market

Demand by
Company Size
Companies need to prioritize hiring Almost all software engineers surveyed said key elements for an ideal work
What Motivates environment are great managers, co-workers they get along with and can learn from,
Software Engineers and company culture and embrace
flexibility beyond remote work: and flexibility around work hours.
What's Next?

Methodology & • Here are some tips and tools for companies to improve their interview process and
Glossary
optimize their remote work environment.

The continued shift to
non-traditional education:
The number of software engineers who acquire their skills through non-traditional
avenues like bootcamps and simply teaching themselves continues to increase
steadily every year.
• Here are some best practices and tools for companies to base hiring on skills over
pedigree and to eliminate biases.
Top
Software
Engineering
Skills
 The hottest* software engineering skills 8

2022 State In 2021, software engineers on Hired’s platform received nearly double the
of Software
Engineers number of interview requests from 2020. Naturally, having one or more of the
Introduction
top in-demand skills could increase interest from employers. So, what are the
Key Findings
skills hiring managers want as they build their teams?
Top Software The most in-demand skill in 2021 was Go (also called Golang or Go language),
Engineering Skills
with “Go-skilled” software engineers receiving 1.8x more interview requests
Top Software
Engineering Roles
compared to the marketplace average. This marks the second year of Go taking
Salary & Demand
the leading position for programming languages.
Trends by Market
“Go is seeing more adoption by larger companies such as Uber, Twitch, and Slack.
Demand by
Company Size It was designed with simplicity in mind, yet is extremely powerful, making it
What Motivates
popular among engineers.”
Software Engineers – Dave Walters, CTO at Hired.
What's Next?
Ruby on Rails – the second most in-demand skill – remains one of the most
Methodology &
Glossary convenient and functional frameworks. It’s also used by some big players such as
Airbnb, GitHub, and Shopify.
React, the popular front-end JavaScript library, has also stayed in high demand.
Both startups and established companies and engineering teams are increasingly
moving towards React as an opportunity to re-architect their platforms.

*Note: When we discuss the "hottest skills" in this report, we refer to a combination of the most
specialized skills (i.e. fewer engineers have it, so it’s in higher demand) and the ones in highest
demand from employers (i.e. companies are looking for those skills in candidates, so there are
more opportunities for engineers with those skills).
 The hottest software engineering skills 9

2022 State Demand by coding skill vs. marketplace average

of Software
Engineers
.5x 1x 1.5x 2x
Introduction
Go 1.8x
Key Findings

Top Software
Ruby On Rails 1.78x
Engineering Skills
Scala 1.73x
Top Software
Engineering Roles Ruby 1.69x
Salary & Demand React Native 1.63x
Trends by Market
Kotlin 1.61x
Demand by
Company Size
Typescript 1.59x
What Motivates
Software Engineers Kafka 1.5x
What's Next? React 1.45x
Methodology & Node.Js 1.45x
Glossary
Spring Boot 1.44x
Objective-C 1.44x
Redux 1.42x
Angularjs 1.41x
Django 1.36x
Kubernetes 1.35x
Angular 2 1.34x
Vue.Js 1.34x
AWS 1.33x
Google Cloud Platform 1.33x
 Software engineers’ favorite & least favorite languages 10

2022 State Based on our survey of more than 2,000 Favorite languages Reasons for loving the languages
of Software
Engineers software engineers, we found engineers
Introduction
continue to favor coding languages such as
Python and JavaScript.
1 Python
64% The ecosystem (useful and well-
maintained libraries and packages)

Key Findings 2 JavaScript

Top Software Why?
3 Java
63%
Engineering Skills
• their useful and well-maintained libraries I know it well
Top Software
Engineering Roles and packages, 4 TypeScript
Salary & Demand • they typically know them well, which makes
5 C#
61%
Trends by Market
them more fun to program in. Resources available for learning
Demand by and development
Company Size
Software engineers noted their least 6 Go
What Motivates
favorite languages:
Software Engineers
7 HTML
What's Next? • are not fun to program in,
• are complex and overwhelming, and 8 C++
57% It is fun to program in

Methodology &
Glossary
• many even had a bad experience working
9 Ruby
with them.
10 C 49% Community support (tone of the
community, open to newcomers)

11 Kotlin
12 PHP 46% The programming language is in
high-demand

13 Swift
14 Scala 34% Large companies use it

15 R
16 Objective-C 26% It was the first programming
language I learned
 Top skills for engineering managers 11

2022 State It’s more important to be proficient in coding languages and frameworks for
of Software
Engineers software engineers than it is for engineering managers. Knowing the top in-
Introduction
demand skill as a software engineer boosted engineers’ demand from employers
Key Findings
by 1.8x, while managers with the top skill, Ruby on Rails, got 1.2x more
interview requests – both compared to their respective marketplace averages.
Top Software
Engineering Skills

Top Software
Engineering Roles Top skills for managers Top skills for individual contributors
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market .25x .5x .75x 1x .5x 1x 1.5x
Demand by
Company Size Ruby On Rails 1.19x Go 1.80x
What Motivates
Software Engineers
Scala 1.17x Ruby On Rails 1.78x
What's Next?

Methodology & AWS 1.13x Scala 1.73x

Glossary

Google Cloud Platform 1.11x Ruby 1.69x

Ruby 1.08x React Native 1.63x

Java 1.06x Kotlin 1.61x

Javascript 1.03x Typescript 1.59x

Go 1.02x Kafka 1.50x

React Native 1.01x Node.Js 1.45x

Php 1.00x React 1.45x

 Do Engineering Managers need to be excellent coders, too? 12

2022 State Results from an informal poll on Hired’s LinkedIn page were split Do you prefer to work as a manager or as an individual contributor?
of Software
Engineers whether coding assignments should be part of the engineering manager
Introduction
hiring process. In general, it leaned slightly toward no.
Key Findings “As engineering teams grow in size, engineering managers tend to become
Top Software less hands-on and active in the code. They’re able to more easily transfer
Engineering Skills
their skills gained from operating in one language or framework to the
Top Software
Engineering Roles
leadership of teams and projects in any language or framework.
Salary & Demand For employers and hiring managers, it thus becomes less important
Trends by Market
to have manager candidates take coding assessments and they should
Demand by
Company Size instead focus on assessing their ability to lead a team and drive
What Motivates
initiatives forward.”
Software Engineers – Dave Walters, CTO at Hired
What's Next?

Methodology &
Cloud environments, such as AWS and Google Cloud Platform, 35.6% 64.4%
remain in high demand for hosting any type of application. They I prefer to I prefer to
Glossary
work as a work as an
allow engineering teams to use more specialized tools to do their work manager individual
compared to traditional data centers, giving them more flexibility. contributor

As engineering managers often work cross-functionally as a solution

architect, resource manager, and project manager, it’s important they
understand the environments their applications are being built within.
Based on our survey, we found the majority prefers to be hands-
on in engineering projects, solve problems, and be in the trenches
over coaching others and leading teams. In fact, the majority pursue
software engineering because they want to solve problems, be creative,
and create things through coding. Only a few enter the field already
aspiring to be managers.
 Top skills to successfully work remotely 13

2022 State According to the software engineers participating What is the most important skill for software engineers to successfully work remotely?
of Software Score based on respondents' ranking from 1-5, with 5 being the most important
Engineers in our survey, the ability to work independently and
Introduction
asynchronously is most important to successfully
Key Findings
work remotely, followed by strong communication 4
skills and time management.
Top Software
Engineering Skills
Those so-called “soft skills” are critical for various 3.79
Top Software
Engineering Roles
roles across an organization to thrive in today’s
3.45
Salary & Demand
remote and hybrid work environments. To 3.28
Trends by Market successfully work with a distributed team, software 3

Demand by engineers have to adapt to master those skills.

Company Size 2.85
What Motivates
Software Engineers

What's Next?
2
Methodology &
Glossary

1.6

0
Ability to work Strong Time management Adaptability Leadership/
independently/ communication skills and flexibility managerial skills
asynchronously (verbal + written)
Top
Software
Engineering
Roles:
Salaries
& Skills
 Salary trends by role 15

2022 State Companies have been more aggressively hiring full % of all interview requests by subrole Top 10 subroles by supply
of Software
Engineers stack engineers in 2021. Our data revealed full stack 2020 2021 % change

engineers showed the highest increase of 2.1% (when 10% 20% 30% 1 Backend Engineer
Introduction

Key Findings
comparing 2021 to 2020) in interview requests Full Stack 31.3%
compared to other software engineering roles. Engineer
33.4% +2.1%
2 Full Stack Engineer
Top Software
Engineering Skills
Why? The simplest answer is to maximize an Backend 32.6%
Top Software 3 Frontend Engineer
Engineering Roles
engineering team’s efficiency and create redundancy Engineer
33.2% +0.6%

Salary & Demand

to handle team fluctuations. We see this most
Trends by Market often in startups and smaller companies with fewer Frontend 16.8% 4 Data Engineer
Engineer
17.2% +0.4%
Demand by resources.
Company Size
5.0%
5 Mobile Engineer
However, this demand is driven by both sides – Data
What Motivates Engineer
5.0% +0.0%
Software Engineers employers and employees. As software engineers are
6 Machine Learning Engineer
What's Next? aware of the high demand – and thus higher salaries Security 0.8%
Methodology & – for full stack engineers, more candidates develop Engineer
0.8% +0.0%
Glossary 7 Security Engineer
this broader skillset, looking for full stack roles.
NLP 0.7%
Engineer
0.7% +0.0% 8 Embedded Engineer

Embedded 0.7%
Engineer
0.6% -0.5% 9 Gaming Engineer

Blockchain 0.6%
Engineer 10 Computer Vision Engineer
0.4% -0.2%

Gaming 0.8%
Engineer
0.6% -0.2%

Computer 0.7%
Vision
Engineer 0.4% -0.4%
 The hottest software engineering roles 16

2022 State The rise of cyber attacks since the beginning of Salaries by top subroles
of Software
Engineers the pandemic in 2020 spurred more companies to 2020 2021 % change
$50k $100k $150k
Introduction
realize how vulnerable they are to hackers. They
Key Findings
reevaluated – and prioritized – their security Security $153,835
strategies. Engineer
$165,505 +7.59%
Top Software
Engineering Skills
It's no surprise security engineers have been in high Search $162,489
Top Software
Engineering Roles
demand and now receive the highest average salary Engineer
$160,392 -1.29%

Salary & Demand

with $165,505 per year. They have also seen the
NLP $164,297
Trends by Market highest salary growth among all software engineers Engineer
$160,227 -2.48%
Demand by with +7.6% compared to 2020. There continues to be
Company Size
an immense talent shortage in cybersecurity, driving Mobile $157,256
What Motivates Engineer
Software Engineers up demand and salaries even further. $158,698 +0.92%

What's Next? Voice, chat bots, and AI-powered transcription Machine $161,024
Learning
Methodology & have been hot areas in tech as well, leading to high $158,307 -1.69%
Glossary
salaries for NLP engineers with $160,227 on average
AR/VR $170,977
per year. Engineer
$158,292 -7.42%

AR/VR engineers also make the top 10 list as

Backend $155,828
companies across various industries explore the Engineer
$157,295 +0.94%
metaverse. Overall, engineers with specialty skills
– from security to mobile, NLP, and AR/VR – Database $152,540
Engineer
continue to see high average salaries. $157,148 +3.02%

Related: Curious about salaries for various tech Blockchain $158,690

Engineer
roles? Check out our updated Salary Calculator $156,527 -1.36%

Data $155,578
Engineer
$155,990 +0.26%
 Most Common Engineering Skills by Subrole 17

2022 State Interested in or currently work in Top Security Engineer Skills Top Backend Engineer Skills
of Software
Engineers any of these subroles? Here are the
Introduction
skills most common among working 1 Python 1 Java
Key Findings
software engineers in each of these
specializations. If you work in one of 2 Java 2 JavaScript
Top Software
Engineering Skills these, do your skills align? If you’re
Top Software ready to upskill, check out the Hired 3 AWS 3 Python
Engineering Roles
partners offering bootcamps, courses,
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market
and certifications on pages 35-36. 4 JavaScript 4 Sql
Demand by
Company Size
(Lists determined by volume of those
5 Linux 5 Aws
What Motivates
skills exhibited by engineers on
Software Engineers
Hired’s platform, not demand).
6 SQL 6 React
What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary
7 C++ 7 Node.Js

8 Docker 8 Docker

9 C 9 C++

10 Go 10 Kubernetes

Note: Lists determined by volume of those skills

exhibited by engineers on Hired’s platform, not demand
 Most Common Engineering Skills by Subrole 18

2022 State Top Data Engineer Skills Top Embedded Engineer Skills Top Frontend Engineer Skills
of Software
Engineers 1 Python 1 C++ 1 JavaScript
Introduction
2 Sql 2 C 2 React
Key Findings
3 Aws 3 Python 3 Node.js
Top Software
Engineering Skills 4 Java 4 Linux 4 HTML
Top Software 5 Spark 5 Java 5 CSS
Engineering Roles
6 Docker 6 Embedded Systems 6 TypeScript
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market 7 Machine Learning 7 JavaScript 7 Java
Demand by
Company Size
8 Linux 8 Python
What Motivates 9 Scala 9 AWS
Software Engineers
10 Hadoop 10 SQL
What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary
Top Fullstack Engineer Skills Top ML Engineer Skills Top Mobile Engineer Skills

1 JavaScript 1 Python 1 Java

2 React 2 SQL 2 Swift
3 Java 3 Java 3 Android
4 Python 4 AWS 4 iOS
5 Node.js 5 C++ 5 Kotlin
6 SQL 6 Tensorflow 6 JavaScript
7 HTML 7 NLP 7 Objective-C
8 AWS 8 Docker 8 Python
9 CSS 9 Deep Learning 9 React
10 TypeScript 10 Spark 10 HTML
Salary &
Demand
Trends by
Market
 Salary trends by market 20

2022 State The U.S. still pays the highest salaries for software engineers overall. Austin, followed closely by Seattle and Chicago, had the highest
of Software
Engineers The U.K. and Canada are behind (with London and Toronto also increase in average salaries, with a 9% bump from $139k in 2020 to
Introduction
paying the lowest average salaries across all markets evaluated), $151k in 2021.
but these regions are catching up, becoming more competitive in
Key Findings This high growth in overall salaries in those smaller markets is mainly
compensation. Canada saw the highest growth in average salaries with
Top Software driven by their increase in remote salaries – with Austin seeing an 8%
Engineering Skills a 9.2% increase between 2020 and 2021. The U.K. followed with an
increase. On the other side, big hubs such as San Francisco and New
Top Software increase of 2.7% and then the U.S. with 0.8%.
Engineering Roles
York saw the least amount of overall (local and remote) salary growth
Salary & Demand
This reflects the increasing shift to remote and global hiring. As between 2020 and 2021 (1% and 2% respectively), reinforcing the shift
Trends by Market talent is able to work for companies across the world, they have more towards hiring remote talent in smaller markets.
Demand by opportunities and access to higher-paying jobs in other regions.
Company Size It’s clear the future is remote for tech professionals
What Motivates
When looking more closely at the different cities across these countries, who can work from anywhere
Software Engineers the data shows a similar trend suggesting a shift away from traditional Remote salaries grew across all markets between 2020 and 2021, while
What's Next? tech hubs. local salaries saw a slight decrease. This is most notable in some smaller
Methodology &
Glossary While the San Francisco Bay Area still pays the highest average markets such as Los Angeles, Denver, and Dallas (where remote work
salary (for both local and remote software engineering roles) across has increased). To stay competitive with U.S. salaries, Toronto even saw
all markets, smaller regions are catching up quickly and seeing higher an astounding 14% increase in average remote salaries.
salary growth than the bigger tech hubs year-over-year. Related: Check out our 2021 State of Tech Salaries Report
 Salary trends by market 21

2022 State Average local and remote salary by market

of Software
Engineers 2021 local average salary 2021 remote average salary 2021 combined average salary

Introduction

Key Findings Toronto (CAD)

Top Software Seattle $118k +5% Remote (globally)

$162k +7%
Engineering Skills

Top Software
$125k +14% $157k +3%
Engineering Roles $162k +8% Boston
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market $146k +5% United States

Demand by Chicago $149k +3% $156k +1%

$129k +5%
Company Size
New York

What Motivates SF Bay Area

$143k +8% $151k -1%
$170k
Software Engineers +2% Denver

What's Next? $124k -3% Washington D.C.

$152k +4% Canada (CAD)

Methodology &
$168k +5% $146k +7% $135k +2% $128k +9%
Glossary Los Angeles
$147k +4%
$142k -2% Dallas / Ft. Worth

$120k
United Kingdom
-4% Atlanta

$151k +7% $137k +5%

San Diego
$140k +5% London £75k +3%
$133k +2% Austin
$147k +1% £75k +5%
$150k +6% $142k +7%
$150k +8% £73k +6%
 Demand for remote vs. local roles by market 22

2022 State Across all markets, software engineers have received software engineers. Jobseekers in those markets received
of Software
Engineers more interview requests for remote roles than for local more than 60% remote interview requests of all interview
Introduction
ones in 2021 compared to 2020, in line with the shift of inquiries sent within their market.
companies increasingly hiring for remote roles and less
Key Findings Toronto and London software engineers still get more
for local positions (even if the candidate is in the same
Top Software local interview requests than remote ones within their
Engineering Skills market as the company).
markets. Data shows only 26.8% and 21.2% remote
Top Software
Engineering Roles
Boston and San Diego saw the most drastic shift from interview requests respectively out of all requests sent
Salary & Demand
local to remote hiring between 2020 and 2021. Data within their market.
Trends by Market shows a 39.2% and 37.5% decrease in the percentage of
Big hubs such as London and the San Francisco Bay
Demand by local interview requests within their respective market
Company Size Area still have the strongest demand for local software
(while remote ones have increased in the same way).
What Motivates
engineering talent, with the highest percentage of local
Software Engineers In San Diego, 66% of the total interview requests received interview requests out of all local ones sent across all
What's Next? by local job seekers were for remote positions, while markets.
Methodology & the rest (34%) was for local roles. This was the highest
Glossary These hubs have also seen slower growth in remote
percentage across all markets.
demand compared to other markets which emphasizes
In general, smaller markets such as San Diego, Denver, the shift to hiring remote talent in smaller regions.
Austin, and Los Angeles have the lowest demand for local
 Demand for remote vs. local roles by market 23

2022 State Local vs. remote interview requests Change in % share of all interview requests on Hired
of Software
Engineers Local interview requests Remote interview requests Local interview requests Remote interview requests
25% 50% 75%
Introduction
+2.2%
San Diego 33.9% 66.1% Washington D.C.
Key Findings +2.6%

+3.4%
Top Software Denver 34.8% 65.2% New York
+1.8%
Engineering Skills
Minneapolis / +1.8%
Top Software 36.5% 63.5% Chicago
St. Paul +1.3%
Engineering Roles
Austin 38.7% 61.3% +1.2%
Salary & Demand Dallas/Ft Worth
1.3%
Trends by Market
Los Angeles 39.3% 60.7% +1.0%
Philadelphia
Demand by +1.2%
Company Size
Atlanta 40.0% 60.0% -0.7%
Boston
What Motivates +1.1%
Software Engineers Dallas/Ft Worth 43.6% 56.4% +0.6%
Atlanta
+1.0%
What's Next?
Seattle 44.4% 55.6%
+0.3%
Methodology & Minneapolis/St. Paul
+0.6%
Glossary Washington D.C. 44.6% 55.4%
+0.3%
San Diego
+0.6%
Philadelphia 45.9% 54.1%
+0.5%
Denver
+0.2%
Boston 48.2% 51.8%
+0.9%
Los Angeles
-0.1
Chicago 49.4% 50.6%
+0.4%
Austin
SF Bay Area -0.4%
53.9% 46.1%
+0.1%
Seattle
New York 54.5% 45.5% -0.4%

-0.0%
Toronto
Other 55.6% 44.4% -0.9%

-3.5%
Toronto London
73.2% 26.8% -4.5%

-7.7%
London 78.8% 21.2% SF Bay Area
-4.7%
Demand
by
Company
Size
 Small companies in big hubs have accelerated remote hiring 25

2022 State While the distribution of local hiring demand has remained pretty similar year-
of Software
Engineers over-year between the different company sizes* across markets, there has been a
Introduction
significant shift within big hubs specifically.
Key Findings Small companies in big tech hubs have been more aggressive in remote hiring.
Top Software Out of all remote interview requests sent from big hubs between 2020 and
Engineering Skills
2021, small companies’ jumped by 15%. Meanwhile, interview requests from
Top Software
Engineering Roles
enterprises in big hubs declined by 18.5%.
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market
Let’s take a deeper look at where companies hire
Demand by
remotely
Company Size Companies of all sizes – from small companies to enterprises – are hiring
What Motivates remote talent in smaller markets and are hiring less talent in big tech hubs.
Software Engineers
However, the shift towards hiring in lower cost of living regions presents as
What's Next?
more drastic for mid-sized and large companies compared to small firms. Why?
Methodology &
Glossary
Because small ones have already hired more in smaller markets in previous years.
As we see talent moving away from big hubs like San Francisco and New York to
live in smaller cities, companies are adjusting their recruiting strategies. They’re
following the talent to where they are now.

*Note: Small businesses = 1-300 employees; mid-sized businesses = 301-

1,000 employees; enterprises = 1,001+ employees
 Small companies in big hubs have accelerated remote hiring 26

2022 State Where companies are hiring by size and location

of Software see breakdown of tier 1-3 markets here
Engineers
Introduction
28.6% 36.8% 37.8% 40.8% 45.6% 46.3%
Key Findings Candidates in Candidates in Candidates in Candidates in Candidates in Candidates in
Tier 3 Cities Tier 3 Cities Tier 3 Cities Tier 3 Cities Tier 3 Cities Tier 3 Cities
Top Software
Engineering Skills
+9.5% v. 2020 +17.7% v. 2020 +11.3% v. 2020 +10.6% v. 2020 +11.4% v. 2020 +12.9% v. 2020
Top Software
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market

Demand by 14.4%
Company Size Candidates in
Tier 2 Cities
What Motivates -0.2% v. 2020 20.2% 30.0%
Software Engineers Candidates in
Candidates in 24.8%
What's Next?
57.1% Tier 2 Cities
Tier 2 Cities Candidates in
Candidates in Tier 2 Cities 19.9% 20.1%
Methodology & Tier 1 Cities -0.6% v. 2020 Candidates in Candidates in
-11.9% v. 2020
Glossary -5.9% v. 2020 Tier 2 Cities Tier 2 Cities
-9.3% v. 2020
43.0% -1.7% v. 2020 -5.3% v. 2020
Candidates in
Tier 1 Cities
34.4% 34.5% 33.6%
-17.7% v. 2020 32.2% Candidates in Candidates in Candidates in
Candidates in Tier 1 Cities Tier 1 Cities Tier 1 Cities
Tier 1 Cities
-4.7% v. 2020 -9.7% v. 2020 -7.6% v. 2020
+0.6% v. 2020

Small Companies Enterprise Small Companies Enterprise Small Companies Enterprise

Tier 1 City Companies Tier 2 City Companies Tier 3 City Companies

 Top skills by company size 27

2022 State The top in-demand skills remain Top SMB Skills Top Mid-Market Skills Top Enterprise Skills
of Software
Engineers similar across different company
Introduction
sizes. However, engineers will be more 1 React 1 React 1 Java
Key Findings
likely to use C# and C++ at mid-sized
and larger firms compared to smaller 2 Javascript 2 Java 2 Python
Top Software
Engineering Skills companies and startups.
Top Software 3 Python 3 Python 3 React
Engineering Roles

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market
4 Node.Js 4 Javascript 4 Javascript
Demand by
Company Size 5 Java 5 AWS 5 AWS
What Motivates
Software Engineers
6 Typescript 6 Node.Js 6 Node.Js
What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary
7 AWS 7 Typescript 7 Go

8 Ruby On Rails 8 Go 8 Typescript

9 Go 9 Ruby On Rails 9 C#

10 SQL 10 C# 10 C++
 Salary trends by company size 28

2022 State Amid the ongoing Great Resignation, Average salary by company size
of Software
Engineers there’s increased pressure for 2021 average salary Change v. 2020

Introduction
enterprises to stay competitive as
startups are seeing an unprecedented
Key Findings +1.7%
level of funding and growth. As
Top Software
Engineering Skills such, smaller companies are quickly
Top Software catching up with compelling pay and
Engineering Roles $150k $155,423 $158,241 +1.5%
benefits to attract and hire top talent $155,015
Salary & Demand in this competitive market.
Trends by Market

Demand by Small businesses saw the highest

Company Size
average salary growth from 2020 to
What Motivates
Software Engineers 2021 with a 1.7% increase. This brings
What's Next?
them on par with enterprises with $100k +1.0%
an average annual salary of $155k in
Methodology &
Glossary 2021.
Why? Smaller companies are hiring
more remote talent than enterprises – +0.6%
and remote roles have higher salaries.
Enterprises hire more local talent $50k +0.5%

where average salaries are stagnant or

even decreased in some markets.
Related: Survey Results: Top 3
Benefits Ranked by Engineers (Besides
Salary) +0.0%

Small Businesses Mid-market Businesses Enterprises

What
Motivates
Software
Engineers
 Biggest motivators for software engineers 30

2022 State The opportunity to continuously learn and tackle new challenges Reasons for learning new skills
of Software
Engineers continues to be the number one reason software engineers enter a
Introduction
career in the field.
64% I enjoy learning new
skills

Key Findings The coding love is real. Similar to last year’s findings, almost half
Top Software of the software engineers surveyed say their biggest motivator to
63%
Engineering Skills
learn a new skill is simply because they enjoy it. My job requires it
Top Software
Engineering Roles
A takeaway for employers?
Salary & Demand
Offer compelling career development opportunities to attract
61%
Trends by Market I know the skill will be

Demand by
and retain software engineers and ensure they feel adequately in high-demand in the
near future
Company Size challenged in their role.
What Motivates
Software Engineers Based on our survey of software engineers, more than half said
What's Next? it’s important to them that their employer provides professional
development opportunities.
57% My current skills are
becoming less relevant
Methodology &
Glossary

49%
A company I am
interested in working
for requires it
 Biggest motivators for software engineers 31

2022 State What most attracted you to a career in software engineering?

of Software (Respondents could provide more than one answer)
Engineers
25% 50%
Introduction

Key Findings New challenges and

continuous learning 72.2%
Top Software
Engineering Skills

Top Software Building products /

Engineering Roles solutions and 63.8%
problem-solving
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market

Demand by
Company Size Earning potential 62.3%
What Motivates
Software Engineers

What's Next? Opportunity to

work remotely 44.5%
Methodology &
Glossary

Work-life balance 37.2%

Career stability 37.0%

Opportunity to
express myself 33.4%
creatively

Opportunity to
collaborate with 24.0%
other tech workers
 Solving big global issues 32

2022 State As the COVID-19 pandemic carries on, software What are you most passionate about solving with your coding skills?
of Software (Respondents could provide more than one answer)
Engineers engineers continue to feel passionate about solving
5% 10%
Introduction
public health issues with their coding skills.
Public health
Key Findings They are also excited about enhancing the future (healthcare, 12.82%
prevention, disease)
Top Software of work through technology. With the shift to
Engineering Skills
remote and hybrid workplaces, the way we work and Education /
Top Software access to upskilling 12.52%
Engineering Roles
interact with coworkers has changed dramatically,
Salary & Demand
giving rise to new tools enhancing communication
Human
Trends by Market and collaboration. collaboration / 12.52%
future of work
Demand by
Company Size It’s a competitive, global job market and skills
Global warming /
What Motivates
are the new currency. Upskilling and acquiring Climate issues 11.86%
Software Engineers the most relevant skills are key to advancing in a
What's Next? career – or entering a new industry – as workers Lack of economic
opportunity and 11.50%
Methodology & are “reshuffling” and changing jobs at record highs. unemployment
Glossary
Software engineers want to help level the playing
field to provide better access to (non-traditional) Moonshots 9.36%
education and create new ways of learning.
Alternative currency
(e.g. cryptocurrency, 6.72%
blockchain)

Transportation/ 4.58%
logistics

Space 4.58%

Food and
water scarcity 3.21%
What's
Next?
 The hottest areas to watch in tech 34

2022 State In line with the high demand What are, in your opinion, the hottest trends to watch out for this year in your industry?
of Software (Respondents could provide more than one answer)
Engineers and increase in salary for security
20% 40%
Introduction
engineers, cybersecurity is one of the
Key Findings
hottest areas to follow, according to
survey respondents. AI/ML/Big Data 55.1%
Top Software
Engineering Skills
With the rise of AR and VR and big
Top Software
Engineering Roles
tech companies determining how Cybersecurity 36.1%
Salary & Demand
to enter the metaverse, keep an eye
Trends by Market out for what’s next in this space,
Demand by too. Remember – AR/VR engineers Metaverse and
Company Size AR/VR 34.1%
are also in high demand and get
What Motivates
Software Engineers compelling salaries due to their
What's Next?
specialty skill set.
Fintech 31.1%
Methodology &
Glossary

Web3 30.9%

Open source 25.7%

No-code/low-code 22.0%

Computer Vision 17.1%

 Resources for learning new skills 35

2022 State Great news – the vast majority of software engineers

of Software
Engineers use free online resources to learn new skills. Some
also cited books as their main way to stay educated.
Introduction
"Even though I have been working in a management role for
Key Findings As mentioned, skills are the new currency. So if
Top Software you're an engineer, here are some Hired partners to
the last 9 years of my career, I still find it important to stay
Engineering Skills
help upskill and advance your career. Many offer abreast of the current landscape so I can help make informed
Top Software
Engineering Roles
discounts to Hired candidates! decisions. Certifications are a great way to help do that."
Salary & Demand Ready to find a new engineering role?
Trends by Market
Click here to complete your free profile. – Jason Awbrey, Former Hired candidate
Demand by
Company Size
and Engineering Manager at Tanium
What Motivates
Software Engineers

What's Next?

Methodology &
Glossary

"I am a proud Makers Academy bootcamp grad, where the

emphasis on test-driven development and quality code have
enabled me to thrive in the industry. Without it, I wouldn’t
be an engineer."

– Paula Muldoon,
Senior Software Engineer at Zopa
 Resources for learning new skills 36

2022 State
of Software Tech communities &
Engineers
Workshops and Career Services Bootcamps & coding
networking Upskilling Exponent offers interview
schools
Introduction

Key Findings Baddies in Tech helps Blockchain Training Alliance prep courses, career Makers combines tech
women of color build and is the leading provider of coaching, and education with attractive
Top Software
Engineering Skills grow their careers. instructor-led Blockchain peer-to-peer support. employment possibilities.
Top Software courses and certifications.
Engineering Roles Ada’s List is a community TopResume is the world’s Boolean is an intensive
Salary & Demand for women and non-binary General Assembly offers largest resume-writing 6-month full-time online
Trends by Market service.
people in tech to connect a variety of online and in- course to start your career in
Demand by and progress. person classes to learn new software engineering.
Company Size
skills.
What Motivates
Software Engineers
Diversability elevates Code Your Future trains
disability equity as it Educative provides refugees and other
What's Next?
connects and empowers interactive courses for disadvantaged people to
Methodology & people of all abilities. software engineers to learn become software engineers
Glossary
new skills faster and hassle- and helps them find work.
Techqueria is the largest free.
community for Latinx tech
professionals. 2U offers certified online
short courses from the
world’s leading universities.
 Employers – here are some ways to attract and retain software engineers 37

2022 State
of Software
1. Prioritize company culture What makes an ideal company culture and work
environment for you?
Engineers and hiring great teams
Introduction Almost all software engineers surveyed said Start by improving your interview 1 Flexibility around work hours, schedule, etc.
Key Findings key elements for an ideal culture and work process to make it more inclusive and
environment are: tailored to each candidate. Here are some 2 No (or very few) meetings
Top Software
Engineering Skills
recommendations: 3 Co-workers you get along with and learn from
• great managers,
Top Software
Engineering Roles • co-workers they get along with • Ebook: The 15 Minute Technical Phone
4 Great managers
Salary & Demand and can learn from, and Screen: How to Vet Candidates Quickly
Trends by Market
• flexibility around work hours. How to get the most out of this first 5 Opportunities for professional development
Demand by
interview.
Company Size
The majority also ranked opportunities and career growth
What Motivates
• Ebook: Want to Run Better Interviews?
Software Engineers for professional development and career You Need a Pre-Brief Meeting (Free 6 Opportunities to solve the most challenging
What's Next?
growth as important, as stated previously. Template)
problems
Methodology & We all know by now that if you don’t Align teams before interviews begin and
Glossary
offer flexibility and remote work, you improve the candidate experience, too. 7 Strong mission/vision
won’t have much luck finding candidates. • Data Report: Hired’s 2021 List of Top
Employers Winning Tech Talent 8 Great, exciting product
Opportunities for career advancement have
also become a must-have in the tech world. See how core values and a strong 9 Small company and team (startup/
employer brand improve the ability to
Beyond that, companies need to refine their entrepreneurial environment)
attract, win, and retain talent.
recruiting and hiring strategies and provide
the best experience for candidates – not 10 Large company and opportunities to work
only to attract and hire the ideal person for on name-brand product (many teams/more
a given role but also to identify whether
networking)
they’re a culture-add and would thrive in
your specific work environment. 11 Remote perks, such as stipends

12 Initiatives supporting DEI

 Employers – here are some ways to attract and retain software engineers 38

2022 State
of Software
2. Optimize your remote What are your favorite (new) remote work benefits?

Engineers work environment 1 More flexibility (e.g. in work hours, schedule,

Introduction It’s no longer enough to simply provide
Key Findings the option to work remotely and avoid
Top Software a commute. Employers need to embrace
Engineering Skills
flexibility more broadly, providing employees
Top Software with the freedom to manage their own time
Engineering Roles
and work schedule without the confines of
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market the strict 9-5.
Demand by
Company Size
Prioritize autonomy before wellness
stipends and other perks that are more of
What Motivates
Software Engineers a ‘nice-to-have’ for most.
What's Next?
In non-stop Zoom meetings most days?
Methodology &
Glossary
Maybe it’s time to reassess your meeting
policy and take a critical look at which ones
are really necessary and what can be done
asynchronously instead.
Find the right balance of tools to use
internally. Software engineers want to
be able to easily and efficiently
communicate and collaborate with
their colleagues in real-time – but too
many tools are overwhelming and
harming their productivity.
Try implementing one app for quick time management)
communications like Slack, one project
management tool like Asana, and one tool 2 Not having to go in an office
to enable asynchronous work like Loom.
Keep it simple and listen to what your 3 Reimbursements for home office equipment
employees need. Nobody wants to be bogged
down monitoring multiple channels of
4 Stipends to use for professional development
communication.
Experiment with “rules of engagement”
5 Stipends to use for wellness
determined by each team. What types of
communication are suited for each tool? If
it’s necessary to maintain a “single source of What are the biggest challenges to your
productivity working remotely?
truth” for projects, which channel is it? Does
it help team productivity to limit checking 1 Too many virtual meetings
emails/Slack/IMs to certain times each day,
versus constant disruptions or assumptions of 2 Not having the right equipment and
responsiveness? Discuss and work out what’s home office set up (extra monitors, etc.)
best for specific teams.
3 More distractions at home
4 Difficulty in accessing my colleagues
for real-time collaboration
5 Too many apps/tools to monitor and
switch between
 Employers – here are some ways to attract and retain software engineers 39

2022 State
of Software
3. Hire for skills, not pedigree How did you learn to program?

Engineers The number of software engineers who To identify the right candidate – no matter 2021 2020
acquire their skills through non-traditional what their background is – ask yourself:
46% 45%
Introduction
I have a computer
Key Findings avenues like bootcamps and simply Who submitted stronger test assignments? science degree

Top Software teaching themselves (e.g. with some of the Which candidate had standout soft skills
Engineering Skills
resources mentioned above) continues to during the interview process? What skills
Top Software
Engineering Roles
increase steadily every year as more options
become available.
do candidates need to excel on the job?
Proficiency in Python? JavaScript? SQL?
24% 23% I’m self-taught

Salary & Demand

Trends by Market Get specific.
We suspect we’ll see even more in the

Demand by
Company Size
years to come as people graduate and join
What Motivates
the tech industry following a career pivot
Software Engineers during COVID-19 or through stimulus and
reskilling funding.
What's Next?
Methodology &
Glossary
So in this candidate-driven and competitive
hiring market, it’s crucial to prioritize skill-
based hiring and not overlook great and
qualified candidates who took the path less
traveled. Take Elon Musk’s advice and hire
for what matters most: skills. It’s time to
retire pedigree biases for good.
“There’s no doubt to me that more and more
companies are willing to hire bootcamp
graduates now than ever before.”
–F
 ahim ul Haq, CEO and
co-founder of Educative.
18% 22%
Avoid getting stuck on a candidate’s current I have a relevant
college degree
role or title. If they’ve been an IC for a
while and aspire to move into a team lead
or manager role soon, an open (indefinitely)
11% 10%
I participated in a
IC role may not be the right fit. bootcamp program
Conversely, a manager may be interested
in stepping away from management for
various personal and professional reasons.
It’s not about checking boxes on a job
description, it’s more about what’s best for
both parties, today and down the road.
If you’re concerned about unconscious bias
in the hiring process, AI tools can help.
According to a survey by Gartner, 17% of
organizations use AI-based solutions for
HR and another 30% will do so in 2022.
 Employers – here are some ways to attract and retain software engineers 40

2022 State Here are some tools to help eliminate (pedigree or other)
of Software
Engineers bias and focus on skills in the hiring process:
Introduction

Key Findings Bias reduction tools Get a customized hiring

Top Software
Engineering Skills Criteria Corp provides unbiased solution for your business.
Top Software pre-employment tests designed to Request a free demo
Engineering Roles prompt better hiring decisions.
Salary & Demand
Trends by Market
Need a hiring solution
Textio helps you craft more
Demand by right now?
Company Size inclusive job descriptions and other
What Motivates hiring content to attract qualified Try Hired for Free
Software Engineers
candidates – regardless of their
What's Next? background or demographics.
Methodology &
Glossary
Hired’s Diversity Goals matches you
with the best candidate based on
their skills and years of experience
rather than pedigree. Other features
on the Hired platform help reduce
salary bias as well.
 Methodology Glossary 41

2022 State
of Software
This report is based on proprietary data gathered and Tier 1 markets:
Engineers analyzed by Hired’s data science teams. For the purpose of San Francisco Bay Area
Introduction
this report, Hired examined software engineering candidate New York
interview requests and salary data from January 2020 through London
Key Findings
December 2021 inclusive. The data included reflects over
Top Software
Engineering Skills 366,000 interactions between companies and software
Tier 2 markets:
Top Software engineers on Hired during this time period.
Engineering Roles Boston
Salary & Demand
A minimum of 50 interview requests for salary-related data Los Angeles
Trends by Market was required for the data to be valid and included in the Seattle
Demand by report and a minimum of 500 interview requests were required Toronto
Company Size
in a given market for it to be included.
What Motivates
Software Engineers Of note, for the sections on the demand for certain software Tier 3 markets:
What's Next? engineering roles and skills, candidates can have multiple Atlanta
Methodology & subroles as well as several skills associated with their Austin
Glossary
candidate profile (e.g., a candidate with a primary role of Chicago
software engineer can have both NLP engineer and machine Dallas/Ft Worth
learning engineer subroles on their profile). All salaries Denver
indicated reflect the salaries offered by an employer at the Minneapolis/St Paul
time of the interview request. Other
In addition to our proprietary data, we collected survey Philadelphia
responses from more than 2,000 software engineers on the San Diego
Hired marketplace to inform our understanding of software Washington D.C.
engineers’ working preferences.