Tech job market, October 2026: a first look at 38,857 open roles

Career Map · 9 October 2026 · Updated weekly, data through 9 October 2026

So far in October 2026, the 230 companies we track list 38,857 open roles across 125 countries. Software engineering leads, the US holds a third of roles, and only 15% of roles state pay.

This is Career Map's first monthly report. Tracking began on 1 October 2026, so it sets a baseline, and later reports will show how the market changes. So far this month, with figures running to 9 October, the 230 companies we track list 38,857 open roles across 125 countries. That includes 5,323 roles posted since the start of the month and 3,855 that have closed. Remote work is scarce, at 5.3% of roles. Explore everything on the map or browse all jobs.

Key numbers

• 38,857 open roles at 230 companies in 125 countries
• 5,323 new roles posted so far this month, 3,855 closed
• $202k median listed base pay (USD a year)
• 15% of roles list pay; 2% offer visa sponsorship; 5% are remote

Where the jobs are

The United States dominates, with 13,133 open roles, or 34% of the total. Next come the United Kingdom (3,069), Germany (2,756), India (2,068) and Singapore (1,697). They are followed by France (1,248), Taiwan (1,238), Spain (1,016) and Canada (920).

Among cities, London has the most roles, with 2,202. It is followed by New York City (1,887), San Francisco (1,660) and Bengaluru (1,277). Santa Clara and Berlin have 853 each. Further down the list are Paris (778), Nashville (642), San Diego (631), Austin (620), Dublin (596) and Boise (547).

Fields

Software engineering is the largest field by far, with 12,627 roles, about a third of the total. It is followed by Sales (6,610) and Operations (4,757). Data & AI has 3,396 roles and the highest median listed pay of any field, at $245,000. Close behind are Legal & Compliance ($236,000), Software Eng. ($228,500) and Product ($224,700). Most roles are at large employers: enterprises with 2,000+ staff account for 53% of roles, against 18% at scale-ups and 1.9% at startups.

Pay

Across roles that list pay, the median base pay is $201,600 a year. By seniority, entry-level roles have a median of $83,200, with the middle half between $45,100 and $130,000. Mid-level roles sit at $114,000. Senior and lead roles have a median of $210,000, with the middle half between $155,700 and $262,500. Location matters a great deal. San Francisco leads at $257,900 and New York City follows at $227,700. London stands at $158,700 and Berlin at $98,200. At country level, the US median is $220,000, compared with $145,500 in the UK, $84,200 in Germany and $78,600 in Spain. These figures are listed base pay only, in USD at October 2026 exchange rates. See pay trends.

Pay transparency

Only 15.3% of roles at the companies we track state pay. The United States (30.5%) and Canada (30%) lead. In cities, the share reaches 73.2% in San Francisco and 67.7% in New York City. Europe lags well behind, even though the EU Pay Transparency Directive's transposition deadline of 7 June 2026 has passed. Among EU countries, Italy (14.5%) and Portugal (13.5%) do best. France is at 6%, Germany at 5.1%, Spain and Ireland at 4.4%, and The Netherlands at 3.5%. The UK, which is outside the directive, is at 6%. In Asia, listed pay is almost absent: 0.3% of roles in India, 0.4% in Singapore and 0.2% in Japan.

Visa sponsorship

Explicit visa sponsorship is rare: 2.4% of roles offer it. It is most common in New York City, where 17.5% of roles mention sponsorship, and in San Francisco (7.5%). London follows at 4.9%. By country, Japan (4.6%), the US (4.3%) and the UK (3.6%) lead. By field, Data & AI is the most likely to sponsor, at 6.3%, followed by Legal & Compliance at 5%. By company size, sponsorship is offered on 5.6% of startup roles, 2.7% of scale-up roles and 3.4% of enterprise roles. Browse roles offering visa sponsorship.

See the 933 jobs offering sponsorship

Who is hiring

Uber has the most open roles, with 4,764. Semiconductor firms are prominent: Micron Technology has 2,943, Qualcomm 2,076, Applied Materials 1,984 and Lam Research 1,353. Amazon lists 2,906 roles. The rest of the top ten are Delivery Hero (922), HP (865), OpenAI (816) and Databricks (780).

• Uber: 4,764 open roles
• Micron Technology: 2,943 open roles
• Amazon: 2,906 open roles
• Qualcomm: 2,076 open roles
• Applied Materials: 1,984 open roles

Takeaways

• Software engineering accounts for about a third of open roles, with Sales and Operations the next biggest fields.
• Data & AI pays the highest listed median, at $245,000, and is the field most likely to offer visa sponsorship.
• If you need sponsorship, New York City stands out: 17.5% of roles there offer it, against 2.4% overall.
• Most European roles still omit pay despite the EU directive, so ask for the range early.
• This is our baseline month; follow trends to see how hiring and pay move in later reports.

About the data

Career Map reads the job boards of a few hundred mostly tech-driven companies twice a day, so these figures cover those companies, not the whole job market. A job open in several places counts once, split across them. Open roles are counted as of 9 October. Pay is listed base pay only, never estimated, in USD per year at Oct 2026 exchange rates. Tracking began on 1 October, so this report is a baseline: it shows where the market stands, and later reports will show how it changes. This report is updated every week until the month is over.

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