There's a huge competition between countries and cities across Europe to position themselves as the most attractive place for software developers and software engineers to build rewarding careers. Similar to other smaller countries, there is an uneven distribution of software developers in Austria. Austria has a concentration of software developers in a single city, which is Vienna. 

Vienna is undeniably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe to live in, and for the past 10 years has also claimed the title of the most liveable city. With a growing tech scene, a world-class transportation system, and rich cultural history, Vienna is also a great option for working for software developers. But Vienna is not the only tech hub in Austria. Successful startups and companies in Graz and Linz call the developer’s attention too. 

Austria’s tech scene at a glance

Vienna is also top-ranked among several categories in this year’s Startup Cities Index. Initiatives such as the Vienna Startup Package from the Vienna Business Agency, a four-month all expenses paid trip including an individual business coaching worth 2,000 Euros to the city for international startups, have led to startups coming to Vienna from all over the world. 

However, Graz and Linz are developing similar mature ecosystems and, therefore, try to gather the attention of talented developers with even more attractive job offerings. And success stories such as Runtastic, the fitness app acquired by Adidas in 2015 for $240 million in Pasching close to Linz, prove them right. These companies are beacons of light in a diversified startup landscape, beside Robo Wunderkind, the miracle cube programmed by children, or the diabetes App developed by MySugr, from the analysis App targeting skin diseases from Scarletred to the 3D ceramic printers of Lithoz, a spin-off of the University of Technology. 

For detailed information about the funding system for startups in Austria, have a look at the websites of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as well as the Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws).

Working as a developer in Austria

The number of software developers increased from 103,500 in 2018 to over 109,700 registered software developers in 2019 in Austria according to The State of European Tech Report. Even though software developers in Austria are well educated and trained, there is a shortage of skilled workers that is growing over the last years. According to the Information and Communication Technology Report, in 2019 there were roughly 8,000 unfilled tech positions in Vienna (10,000 in Austria in total), and another 10,000 unfilled tech positions related to the ICT sector. 

Despite exciting career opportunities and high-income possibilities, there is an increasing demand for tech professionals in other fields (e.g. medicine) and a need for data skills in particular (e.g. for large enterprises). 

As a tech employer, it makes perfect sense to take a look over the Austrian borders. Europe has a talent pool of 6.1 million professional developers which represents an increase of 400,000 compared to 2018.

Developer salaries in Austria

Developer salaries in Vienna start around 35,000 Euro, increasing to around 49,000 Euro for mid-level developers. Senior developer salaries typically range from 50,000 to 76,000 Euro, increasing to upwards of 80,000+ Euro for skilled individuals and people managers. ‍

Pro tip: Although employers in Austria are required to state the salary for a position, the final salary is usually much higher. Keep that in mind when browsing job listings, they often contain the minimum wage according to the collective agreement (or “Kollektivvertrag” in German).

Note: To understand the “average” developer in Vienna, we extracted the raw data from Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey 2020 and extracted the data from Austrian respondents, and compared it with the data from the WeAreDevelopers Developer Report 2019. While the cumulative sample represents less than 0.01 % of Austria’s total developers, it is the most complete dataset currently available and reveals interesting insights into their experience and preferences. 

Moreover, the data provides us with an understanding of the coding experience of developers in Austria, showing that relative age distribution is getting younger again due to the educational efforts of Austria in comparison to 2019.

The happiness of developers in Austria 

Overall, developers in Austria tend to be satisfied with their jobs, with almost 68 % reporting that they are either slightly or very satisfied with their job. Austrian tech companies seem to be perceived as attractive employers for software developers above the global average. On the other end of the spectrum, around 20 % are slightly dissatisfied to very dissatisfied.

Even though the majority of software developers are happy with its job, almost 65 % of software developers would not deny a new, more attractive job opportunity, or are already actively looking for a new job.

Take charge of your dev career 

Busted! You are already thinking of moving to Austria yourself? Check out our job platform for attractive developer jobs in Austria – and, of course, always feel free to visit us in our coworking office at Talent Garden.