Salary filings look backward, so we also read job descriptions to see what employers ask for now. For this first report we analyzed 6,284 U.S. job descriptions from employers across industries, collected since September 25, 2026. The live figures are on our Skills in Demand pages, which update daily.
Status at a glance
| Job family | Most requested skills | Typical years asked | Median advertised pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineering | Python 38%, Java 27%, Kubernetes 22% | 5 | $213,000 |
| Machine Learning | Python 69%, Machine learning 66%, LLMs 46% | 5 | $238,500 |
| Data & Analytics | SQL 61%, Python 57%, Statistics 43% | 4 | $187,700 |
| Product Management | Roadmapping 41%, Project management 40%, Agile 20% | 5 | $199,500 |
| Security | Python 30%, Incident response 27%, AWS 24% | 5 | $191,500 |
| Finance, HR & Legal | Excel 33%, PowerPoint 15%, Project management 15% | 5 | $162,500 |
| Manufacturing | Supply chain 21%, Excel 16%, Root cause analysis 11% | 3 | $117,500 |
What we noticed
Python appears in 69% of machine learning descriptions and 38% of software engineering ones, and also in 35% of hardware and 30% of security roles.
Excel leads finance, HR and legal roles at 33%, and 27% of data roles ask for it alongside SQL and Python.
LLM experience shows up in 46% of machine learning descriptions, and also in 11% of software engineering and 11% of security descriptions.
Software engineering roles in financial companies ask for Java more often than Python, at 65% against 50%, from a smaller sample of 62 descriptions. Across all sectors, Python leads Java by 38% to 27%.
Degrees and experience
| Job family | Bachelor's | Master's | PhD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine Learning | 59% | 24% | 33% |
| Hardware & Silicon | 66% | 28% | 20% |
| Data & Analytics | 62% | 23% | 18% |
| Software Engineering | 63% | 15% | 10% |
| Sales | 53% | 8% | 3% |
These show how often a degree is mentioned, including as a preference, so they are not strict requirements. In machine learning, a PhD comes up more often than a master's, at 33% against 24%.
What to watch next
Collection began in late September, which is too recent to call anything a trend. Later editions will compare against these figures, and LLM experience is the first thing we will check.
How to read this report
A percentage is the share of sampled descriptions that mention a skill, so a low share can still be a firm requirement in the roles that list it. We sample a limited number of descriptions per employer so no company dominates, and we match a fixed list of skills, so anything not on the list is not counted. Advertised pay comes only from postings that state it, so it may not represent every employer. We report market-wide figures only and never individual employers.