By Charlie, Python Specialist at Tides Digital

Over the last year, one pattern has become increasingly clear across the European Python market. Demand has not disappeared. It has concentrated.

Across multiple hiring reports and live hiring data, senior Python roles now account for a disproportionate share of open vacancies. In several European markets, roles requiring five or more years of Python experience represent more than half of all active Python job postings. At the same time, junior and early-career Python roles have continued to decline as a percentage of total demand.

I see this reflected daily in conversations with both candidates and hiring managers.

Companies are still investing in Python. It remains central to data platforms, AI systems, backend services and internal tooling. What has changed is the risk tolerance around who they hire. Teams want engineers who can operate independently, make decisions under ambiguity and own systems in production. The market data supports this shift. Time to hire for senior Python engineers has increased across Europe, while competition for experienced candidates remains high despite broader tech hiring slowdowns.

Salary data reinforces the same story. Median salaries for senior Python engineers in key European hubs rose again over the last year, while mid-level compensation largely flattened. This divergence suggests that businesses are prioritising experience and ownership rather than scaling teams through volume hiring.

From a hiring perspective, this has implications that are often underestimated.

Many organisations still write Python job descriptions as if the market looks the way it did several years ago. They focus on language proficiency rather than system responsibility. Candidates with senior experience read these roles and struggle to see scope or impact. Meanwhile, less experienced candidates apply in high volume, creating noise without solving the underlying hiring need.

Strong senior Python engineers are engaging differently. They want to understand what they will own, how Python is used within the wider system and how decisions are made when models drift, pipelines break or performance degrades. They are assessing technical leadership and delivery maturity as carefully as they are being assessed themselves.

Another stat worth paying attention to is remote hiring distribution. Across Europe, a growing proportion of Python roles are now remote or hybrid by default. This has widened talent pools, though it has also raised the bar. Companies are no longer competing only within their local market. They are competing across borders for the same experienced engineers. That competition rewards clarity, speed and credibility.

For candidates, this market rewards depth over breadth. Engineers who can articulate their impact, describe systems they have owned and explain trade-offs they have made are consistently outperforming peers with similar technical skills but less ownership experience.

For hiring teams, the message is clear. Python hiring in Europe has matured. It is no longer driven by tooling familiarity or language popularity. It is driven by responsibility, experience and the ability to operate close to production.

At Tides, this is the lens we apply when supporting Python hiring across Europe. Understanding where demand has concentrated helps both candidates and companies make better decisions. The data tells a clear story. The teams that listen to it are hiring more effectively.