Six trends drawn from first-party placement data across the EQ Group brands: where demand sits, what is growing fastest, how long roles take to fill and what that means for founders planning the next twelve months.
Across the roles EQ Group benchmarks in 2026, hiring demand is led by software engineering (94 out of 100, +29% year on year), followed by product & design at 88 and data & machine learning at 86. Mandate volume grew 42% on technical desks and 42% on commercial desks in the US across the Oct to Mar window, while UK technical mandates pulled ahead at 55% against 37% commercial. Average time to hire is 32 days in the US and 34 days in the UK, with executive search the slowest stage at 48 and 50 days respectively.
US technical and commercial mandates grew in step across the Oct to Mar window, at 42% and 42%. The UK separates: 55% technical against 37% commercial. A UK agency built only on commercial desks is competing in the slower half of its market.
+33% year on year, at a demand score of 86 out of 100. Growth is concentrated in firms that can assess technical depth, not firms that can only run a process.
Executive search runs at 48 days in the US and 50 days in the UK, against 22 and 24 days for early-career hires. Cash planning in a search business has to assume the long tail, not the average.
A US recruitment consultant benchmarks at $90k on average against £60k in the UK. Leadership roles widen further: $335k against £205k for a chief revenue officer. Read alongside our currency conversion notes before pricing a transatlantic hire.
38% of new US mandates across the group sit with Take a Seat Tech, and 30% with Take a Seat. Specialization, not breadth, is what is winning briefs in this cycle.
Demand growth reads +24% in the US and +18% in the UK across 2,400+ and 850+ tracked roles. Founders planning off a single national number will misprice at least one of their desks.
Demand scored out of 100 against each national baseline, with year on year growth.
| Vertical | US demand | UK demand | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineering | 94 | 83 | +29% |
| Product & Design | 88 | 81 | +24% |
| Data & Machine Learning | 86 | 71 | +33% |
| Executive & Board Search | 79 | 62 | +18% |
| Commercial & GTM Leadership | 82 | 70 | +22% |
| Sales & Revenue Leadership | 74 | 59 | +19% |
| Operations & Finance | 66 | 50 | +12% |
| Specialist Brand Builds | 78 | 64 | +27% |
| Founder-Led Recruitment | 62 | 48 | +14% |
| Emerging Talent & Early-Career | 71 | 50 | +21% |
Source: EQ Group placement data · Reviewed August 2026
Days from mandate open to accepted offer, averaged across the group.
Across the roles EQ Group benchmarks in 2026, hiring demand is led by software engineering (94 out of 100, +29% year on year), followed by product & design at 88 and data & machine learning at 86. Mandate volume grew 42% on technical desks and 42% on commercial desks in the US across the Oct to Mar window, while UK technical mandates pulled ahead at 55% against 37% commercial. Average time to hire is 32 days in the US and 34 days in the UK, with executive search the slowest stage at 48 and 50 days respectively.
Data & Machine Learning leads growth at +33% year on year, with Software Engineering the highest absolute demand at 94 out of 100. Product & Design and Data & Machine Learning follow at 88 and 86. Scores are relative to the national baseline for each market.
32 days on average in the US and 34 days in the UK. By stage, executive search runs longest at 48 days (US) and 50 days (UK), while early-career hires close in 22 and 24 days.
Across the mandates EQ Group brands run, demand is up +24% year on year in the US and +18% in the UK, reviewed August 2026. Growth is concentrated in technical and specialist categories rather than spread evenly across desks.
Offers, mandates and closed placements across the EQ Group portfolio brands in the preceding 12 months, reviewed August 2026. It is first-party placement data, not a survey of advertised roles, and it covers the categories our brands operate in rather than the whole labour market.
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