Tech job postings fall across Europe but rise in emerging markets: where are the biggest declines?

Tech job postings on the hiring platform Indeed have been declining globally since their peak in late 2022. By 2025, postings had fallen below pre-pandemic levels everywhere, though the drop has been less severe in emerging market economies.

European countries have seen some of the largest declines, while several Middle Eastern economies have experienced strong growth over the last five years.

So, how have tech job postings changed? Which European countries have recorded the biggest declines?

What are 'tech jobs'?

Indeed classifies tech and mathematics roles under four categories: software development; information design and technology; IT operations and help desk; and mathematics.

Among the 27 countries analysed, European nations saw the steepest fall in tech job postings between 1 February 2020 and 31 October 2025, based on a seven-day moving average.

In absolute terms, the decline exceeded 40% in Switzerland (-46%) and the UK (-41%), with France (-39%) close behind.

The United States showed a similar trend, with a decline of 35%. Austria (-34%), Sweden (-32%) and Germany (-30%) were also at comparable levels.

Other European countries experienced more moderate drops: Ireland (-22%), Italy (-16%), Belgium (-14%), the Netherlands (-12%) and Poland (-10%).

Across all 27 countries tracked by Indeed, global tech postings fell by 18%.

A new AI era, marked by ChatGPT

“Both Europe and North America experienced a boom in tech job postings coming out of the pandemic that around 2022 began reversing into a bust,” Brendon Bernard, senior economist at Indeed, told Euronews Business.

He said the tech sector appears to have undergone an intensified version of broader shifts in employer hiring appetite, with demand fading as the economic backdrop weakened.

“As the macroeconomic situation was already turning, we entered the new AI era, marked by ChatGPT going public, which has potentially added a further hit to demand for certain — particularly entry-level — tech jobs,” he added.

Spain and Luxembourg were the only European countries among the 13 analysed where tech job postings did not decline between February 2020 and October 2025. Postings in rose 21% in Spain and 37% in Luxembourg.

Bernard noted that tech postings in Spain are down from their mid-2022 peak but have not reversed their earlier boom to the same extent as in other advanced economies. “This could be related to broader strength in the Spanish economy, which has helped keep overall job postings relatively stable in recent years,” he said.

Postings more than doubled in Middle Eastern economies

Several Middle Eastern countries recorded some of the largest increases in tech postings over this period.

Qatar led with a 222% rise, followed by Saudi Arabia (130%) and the United Arab Emirates (111%). In all three cases, postings more than doubled.

Bernard said strong growth in tech postings in the UAE and Saudi Arabia has gone hand in hand with substantial increases in overall job postings. “Rather than being unique to tech, demand for tech workers has been part of a broader transformation of these economies in recent years,” he added.

Other emerging markets also saw strong increases: Malaysia (70%), Mexico (50%), India (44%) and the Philippines (41%).

Looking at tech job posting indices by region since February 2020 (indexed at 100), emerging markets have seen only a slight decline since 2022 but remain 45% above pre-pandemic levels as of 31 October. This contrasts with sharp declines in the US and most advanced economies.

Globally, tech job postings are 18% below pre-pandemic levels. The decline is 28% in English-speaking advanced economies (excluding the US) and 23% in other advanced economies, while the US has seen a 35% drop.

While the downturn began slightly earlier, the steepest declines followed ChatGPT’s public release in late 2022.

Indeed data also shows that a growing share of global tech jobs is now located in emerging market economies.

Among the countries tracked by Indeed, emerging markets accounted for about 16% of global tech job postings between 2020 and 2022. Their share has since nearly doubled to 28% as of September.

India makes up the largest share of emerging market tech postings due to the size of its labour market.