Which tools and skills do employers actually ask testers for? Rather than repeat the usual "top 10 testing tools" lists, we counted.
On 2 October 2026, we analysed job ads published in France over the previous 60 days: 405 ads with "QA" in the title and 1,180 ads with "test" or "testeur" in the title. Here is what they mention.
TL;DR
- Playwright has caught up with Selenium: 24.2% of QA ads mention Playwright, versus 21.7% for Selenium.
- Test management outweighs any automation tool: Jira (40%) and Xray (26.2%) come ahead of every framework.
- AI is entering job descriptions: one QA ad in five (20.7%) mentions it.
- Performance testing stays marginal: JMeter, k6 and Gatling each appear in less than 2% of QA ads.
Method in brief
We used the public API of Adzuna, an aggregator that collects ads from many job boards. For each skill, we counted ads published in France over the last 60 days whose title contains "QA" (or "test") and whose full text mentions the skill.
- "QA" ads (405): QA engineer, QA automation, QA tester. The core of software testing, mostly web and SaaS.
- "Test" ads (1,180): broader. They also include validation roles for embedded, railway or industrial systems, where web tools are less in demand, so shares are lower.
Automation tools: Playwright level with Selenium
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playwright | 98 | 24.2% | 81 | 6.9% |
| Selenium | 88 | 21.7% | 84 | 7.1% |
| Cypress | 61 | 15.1% | 54 | 4.6% |
| Robot Framework | 36 | 8.9% | 59 | 5% |
| Appium | 21 | 5.2% | 16 | 1.4% |
| UFT / QTP | 4 | 1% | 10 | 0.8% |
| TestComplete | 2 | 0.5% | 5 | 0.4% |
In QA ads, Playwright comes first. In the more industrial "test" ads, Playwright and Selenium are neck and neck, and Robot Framework rises to 5%. Legacy proprietary tools stay under 1%.
Test management: Jira and Xray first
This is the clearest result.
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jira | 162 | 40% | 212 | 18% |
| Xray | 106 | 26.2% | 114 | 9.7% |
| Cucumber / Gherkin | 57 | 14.1% | 45 | 3.8% |
| Squash TM | 34 | 8.4% | 76 | 6.4% |
| TestRail | 20 | 4.9% | 14 | 1.2% |
| ALM / Quality Center | 10 | 2.5% | 58 | 4.9% |
Writing and tracking test cases in a tool matters as much as automating them. Squash TM, an open-source tool widely used in France, shows up more than TestRail.
API and performance testing
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postman | 81 | 20% | 88 | 7.5% |
| REST Assured | 62 | 15.3% | 63 | 5.3% |
| SoapUI | 9 | 2.2% | 14 | 1.2% |
| JMeter | 7 | 1.7% | 10 | 0.8% |
| k6 | 4 | 1% | 3 | 0.3% |
| Gatling | 4 | 1% | 3 | 0.3% |
API testing is well established. Performance testing remains a specialty, rarely asked of generalist testers.
Languages: Python first
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Python | 74 | 18.3% | 199 | 16.9% |
| SQL | 60 | 14.8% | 123 | 10.4% |
| Java | 54 | 13.3% | 104 | 8.8% |
| JavaScript / TypeScript | 52 | 12.8% | 47 | 4% |
| C# / .NET | 18 | 4.4% | 50 | 4.2% |
SQL right behind Python is a useful reminder: querying a database to check a result is a daily task.
CI/CD: one QA ad in three
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CI/CD | 142 | 35.1% | 178 | 15.1% |
| GitLab | 59 | 14.6% | 64 | 5.4% |
| Jenkins | 46 | 11.4% | 57 | 4.8% |
| Git | 42 | 10.4% | 78 | 6.6% |
| Docker | 17 | 4.2% | 19 | 1.6% |
| GitHub Actions | 12 | 3% | 12 | 1% |
An automation tester is expected to run tests in the pipeline, not just on their own machine. In France, GitLab is well ahead of GitHub Actions.
Agile, AI and ISTQB
| Skill | "QA" ads | Share | "Test" ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agile / Scrum | 197 | 48.6% | 265 | 22.5% |
| AI / generative AI | 84 | 20.7% | 143 | 12.1% |
| ISTQB | 59 | 14.6% | 103 | 8.7% |
"AI" covers testing AI-based products, using assistants to write tests, or simply company context. ISTQB is a recognised asset, rarely a hard requirement.
Where, which contract, which salary
On a sample of 605 unique test and QA ads:
- Location: the Paris region (Île-de-France) accounts for 31.9% of ads, followed by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (12.6%), Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (11.9%) and Occitanie (10.9%).
- Contracts: 44.3% permanent (CDI), 15.2% fixed-term, assignment or freelance, 40.5% not specified.
- Seniority: only 2.1% of titles explicitly say "junior"; 14.5% target a senior or lead profile.
- Salaries: 229 ads (37.9%) display one. The median is €42,500 gross per year, half between €40,000 and €45,000. Senior and lead roles show a median of €50,000.
What it means if you are learning
- Learn a modern framework: Playwright (or Selenium) remains the technical core of test automation.
- Don't neglect test management tools: Jira, Xray or Squash TM are cited more often than any framework.
- Run your tests in CI: one QA ad in three asks for it.
- Get ready for AI: one QA ad in five mentions it, and reviewing what an assistant writes is becoming part of the job.
Limitations
- Adzuna is not exhaustive, and an ad posted on several sites may count more than once.
- A mentioned skill is not always required: it may be a "nice to have".
- Titles are imperfect: a QA role with another title escapes both bases.
- "AI" is a broad word.
- This is a one-off snapshot. We will repeat it every quarter, starting in December 2026.
Over to you
Does this match your market? If you hire or work as a tester outside France (UK, Canada, US, Belgium, Switzerland…), I'd love to know in the comments whether Playwright has overtaken Selenium where you are, and which tool your last job ad asked for.
Originally published as the QA Skills Barometer (full FAQ and chart there; French version). You may reuse the figures with a link to the source: "QA Skills Barometer, AutomationDataCamp, October 2026". Job ad data: Adzuna. This article was written with AI assistance; the figures come from our own count and were checked against the original page.
AutomationDataCamp is an online software testing academy (Playwright, API testing, CI, AI-assisted testing, ISTQB prep). More on our site.
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