Hired Releases 2023 State of Software Engineers Report

2022 layoffs impacted demand and salaries for junior and nontraditional engineering candidates; Ruby on Rails is the most in-demand skill; natural language processing engineers earned highest average salaries

Hired, the leading hiring marketplace matching tech and sales talent with top companies, released its annual report, Big Transitions in the Tech Industry: Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers. The report analyzes trends in demand for skills, salaries, and work preferences from over 68,500 candidates and 494,000 interactions between employers and software engineering candidates. It also surveyed more than 1300 software engineers and 120 talent professionals and hiring managers on Hired’s marketplace.

TLDR: Download the report

Key findings

The San Francisco Bay Area paid the highest yearly average salaries in 2022 for both local and remote engineering roles, at $180K and $176K respectively. Philadelphia saw the largest average year-over-year increase in salaries for both local and remote roles.

Hired also found remote roles commanded higher salaries than local roles, especially in smaller markets. Software engineers received a higher proportion of interview requests (IVRs) for remote roles than for local ones in 2022 across every market, except London. At the end of December 2022, remote roles in every market except London paid more than local roles.

2022 saw a wave of high-profile layoffs in the tech industry with more than 150,000 tech workers losing their jobs. The 2022 layoff period (defined by Hired to be between May to December 2022) shifted employer demand to candidates with more years of experience. 72% of interview requests went to candidates with six or more years of experience by December 2022, up from 64% in January 2022. Senior talent also saw higher salary increases than junior talent from 2021 to 2022.

Perspective from Josh Brenner, Hired CEO

“We’ve witnessed an incredible shift in the tech hiring landscape since we published 2022’s report,” says Josh Brenner, Hired CEO. “After significant rounds of layoffs in the last few quarters, employers and candidates alike are finding their footing for 2023.

The job reports and declining unemployment rates, however, are promising, and companies in various sectors are still hiring. It may feel more quiet than a year ago, but we’re optimistic this ‘tech winter’ is thawing. For instance, our data shows a shift in hiring strategies as more companies pursue senior candidates and certain coding skills. Most continue to prioritize remote roles, despite some high-profile companies calling to ‘Return to Office.’

Tech workers, hiring managers, and talent professionals are wildly resourceful and creative problem-solvers. We’re here to help them navigate this quickly evolving climate to make hiring more equitable, efficient, and transparent for all.”

Additional key findings from the report include:

Despite layoffs and market volatility, engineers remain optimistic

Despite mass downsizing efforts at the end of 2022, most surveyed software engineers are not concerned they will lose their jobs in the next six months.

But more engineers are feeling the pressure to work more hours

More than half of respondents feel the push to work more hours or that the request is imminent.

Engineers are even more adamant about flexibility and remote work – and employers agree

39% of candidates with a Hired profile preferred only remote roles by December 2022, compared to 16% of candidates in December 2021. Surveyed employers ranked “flexible work schedules” as the top benefit they’re prioritizing over the next six months, after compensation, healthcare, and PTO.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) engineers saw the highest salaries

NLP engineers experienced the highest salary growth compared to 2021 and received the highest average salary in 2022 out of all software engineering roles.

Backend engineers saw the highest demand

Backend engineers received 59% of all interview requests on Hired’s platform, up 3% from 2021. Employers surveyed said that, if they were still hiring for engineering talent, among the most difficult roles to fill over the last six months were backend engineers.

Traditional engineering candidates earned more and the wage gap widened for non-traditional candidates

While salaries grew YoY for engineers with traditional and non-traditional backgrounds, US candidates with nontraditional educational backgrounds now made $.96 to every dollar earned by candidates with traditional backgrounds – compared to $.99 in 2021.

Ruby on Rails was the most in-demand skill

Ruby on Rails was the most in-demand skill, followed by Ruby, Scala, and Go (2022’s most in-demand skill). Engineers proficient in Ruby on Rails had nearly 1.64X more interview requests from employers when compared to the marketplace average.

You can access Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report here.

About Hired

Hired is the most efficient way to fill tech and sales roles today. With unbiased insights, DEI tools, skill assessments, and dedicated Customer Success Managers, Hired works with over 10,000 companies around the world to match thousands of active and qualified candidates to employ their full potential. With better data, curated matches, and higher acceptance rates, employers save an average of 45 sourcing hours per role with the Hired solutions suite. Backed by The Adecco Group, Hired is rated by G2 as a leader in Recruiting Automation, Job Search Sites, and Diversity Recruiting. Hired is committed to building equity in the hiring process through a more representative talent pool, using bias reduction features, customized assessments, and salary bias alerts to help remove unconscious bias when hiring.