Workflow automation tools are displacing traditional programming languages in enterprise hiring at a pace that has surprised even practitioners, according to Malt's Tech Trends 2026 report, which covers project briefs from more than 90,000 companies across Europe and the Middle East.
The headline figures are striking. Java demand fell 32% year-on-year across Malt's network of 950,000 freelance experts; C++ dropped 25% and PHP 33%. In the same period, projects specifying n8n — an open-source workflow automation tool — grew 1,390%. The two trends are connected: n8n's volume is now approaching Java's on the platform.
Benoit Guillon, Vice President of Engineering at Malt, attributes the shift to three pressures converging at once. Organisations want faster iteration, lower failure risk on new projects, and easier access to large language models without needing specialist engineers for every integration. "There is a clear market shift towards low and no-code tools, driven by a need to reduce risk, squeeze time to market, and test more," he said. "That is the promise of low-code and no-code tools like n8n, which is now levelling in project volume with Java."
There is a clear market shift towards low and no code tools, driven by a need to reduce risk, squeeze time to market, and test more. That is the promise of low code and no-code tools like n8n which is now leveling in project volume with Java.
The n8n data breaks down along expected fault lines. The largest use category is CRM and marketing automation (35% of projects), followed by AI agent integration (25%), API connectors (15%) and data pipelines (15%). Eighty-two percent of demand comes from companies with fewer than 50 employees — a sign that smaller firms, unencumbered by legacy Java estates, have moved quickest. Expected benefits cited in project briefs range from time savings (mentioned in 80% of briefs) to cost reduction (60%) and scalability (50%).
AI is central to why this cohort of tools accelerated in 2024 and 2025. "Since 2024, AI has given these tools their second act as they democratised LLM usage to non-experts," Guillon said. "This explosive growth is indicative of the shift from being viewed as niche tools to mainstream automation and integration platforms in the space of a year."
Not everything is contracting. Mobile developer demand grew 20% in aggregate, and cross-platform projects reached 45% of all Malt mobile work in 2025, up from 36% the previous year. In the website and CMS segment, WordPress demand fell 11% and its market share shrank by more than 30% — Webflow gained 39%.
Guillon is careful not to frame this as the end of traditional software engineering. The more likely outcome, he argues, is a two-tier stack: solid "as-code" foundations maintained by engineers, with no-code and automation layers built on top by a broader population of builders. "These solutions must now interoperate and integrate so that we benefit from the best of both worlds," he said. Vibe-coding tools — AI-assisted code generation aimed at non-developers — will probably accelerate that bifurcation rather than resolve it.
The report draws on keyword searches and project briefs across 9 countries and regions, representing a business volume of over €800 million in 2024.
