Job posts for this role ask most for C/C++ and Embedded C, with RTOS and embedded Linux as the operating systems, device drivers, bootloaders and Linux BSP to bring up a board, ARM processors and microcontrollers, and the buses I2C, SPI, UART, CAN and PCIe. Car work adds AUTOSAR, QNX and the safety standards ISO 26262 and ASPICE. The full story of what each skill is used for is on the skills page.

Among product companies, firmware engineers are hired by the companies that make chips and devices and by the companies that make, drive, power and build things. Two Domains are the biggest hiring hotspots, Semiconductors and devices for chips and devices, and Industrial tech and mobility for machines and vehicles.

The chip makers hire more firmware engineers than anyone else in the market, because every chip needs software to run (who they hire). NVIDIA, Qualcomm, AMD and Intel, processor and GPU makers, hire for embedded Linux, drivers and board bring-up. NXP, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and Infineon, which are analog, power and microcontroller chipmakers, hire for microcontroller firmware and RTOS work, taking juniors more readily than most. Lam Research, KLA and Applied Materials, which build the machines for chip manufacturing and test equipment, hire firmware engineers for them and are open to juniors too. Sandisk and Micron write the firmware inside SSDs and memory, mostly with senior engineers. Arm, the AI chip start-ups and the wireless chip makers Silicon Labs and Marvell hire firmware engineers as well.

The car industry, part of automotive and mobility, is the other big hiring hotspot. HARMAN and Visteon build automotive infotainment systems and digital cockpits on Android Automotive and QNX. Aptiv, Magna, Veoneer and BorgWarner write firmware for the control units, safety systems and battery management in auto components and EV batteries, with AUTOSAR and ISO 26262 (who they hire). Lytx and Netradyne write dashcam and telematics firmware, Waymo and Applied Intuition hire a few for self-driving systems, and Wabtec and Alstom write rail signalling firmware and are open to juniors.

Factories, aircraft and devices hire firmware engineers too. In manufacturing tech, Danfoss, Nordson and Festo build controllers for factory machines. Johnson Controls and Otis build them for building systems, and Caterpillar for heavy equipment. In aerospace, defence and space, Collins Aerospace, Boeing and NewSpace Research write avionics and drone firmware, and they take juniors more readily than most. Signify, Barco, Whirlpool and Zebra Technologies write firmware for lighting, displays, appliances and scanners. GE Vernova, Fluence and Enphase build inverters, batteries and grid equipment, part of renewable energy and battery storage. STERIS, Stryker and Boston Scientific, which are medical device makers, write firmware under medical safety rules, and Thermo Fisher and Waters for lab instruments.

A few more pockets are worth knowing. Cisco, Aruba, Arista and RUCKUS write embedded software for enterprise networking, and HPE, Dell and Lenovo write server firmware for server and storage hardware. Canonical and Red Hat build embedded Linux. Business software, finance, commerce and media companies hire almost none.

Big tech hires firmware engineers for its own devices and data-centre hardware. Apple hires them more heavily than any other big tech company, for wireless and device firmware (who they hire). Google hires them for Pixel, Nest and its data-centre hardware, and it is the most open to a junior of the big tech companies (who they hire). Amazon hires them for Kindle, Echo and Ring at Lab126, often on the Android platform, and Microsoft for Surface, Xbox and Azure hardware. Meta has a few openings, and firmware is a large part of what it hires for in India.

In the services world, firmware engineers write device software for car and device clients. The engineering-services firms where the work is hardware, cars and chips, like Quest Global, L&T Technology Services, KPIT and Embitel, hire firmware engineers more heavily than any other services firms, and firmware is one of their largest roles (who they hire). Much of this work is for carmakers and their suppliers, with AUTOSAR and ISO 26262. Accenture has many openings too, though firmware is a tiny part of its hiring. The IT services giants, like Capgemini, Infosys and Wipro, hire a fair number and take juniors more readily than most. The consulting arms and the services firms that build products for clients hire few. More on all of them is in the services world's embedded and chip hiring.

The GCCs hardly hire firmware engineers, except where the parent engineers its own hardware. Inside the manufacturers and carmakers, Celestica, Stellantis, Goodyear and Toshiba Software hire firmware engineers at their product research and development centres, mostly with experienced engineers. Inside the energy and oil majors, SLB hires them for its oilfield equipment. The banks and retailers hire almost none. More on this is in the GCCs' other roles.

The staffing companies, like TekPillar, Mulya Technologies, Source-Right and Best NanoTech, are specialist embedded and chip recruiters that place firmware engineers at chip and car companies (who they hire). The hiring platforms offer very little firmware work, because firmware needs the hardware on the desk.

Firmware engineers are rarely hired by business software, finance, commerce or media companies, or by the GCCs of banks and retailers. Among the services firms, the consulting arms hire almost none, and the hiring platforms offer very little.