Equity in UK startup hiring: what the data shows

Based on: 2,057 distinct job adverts from 467 technology companies in the UK-focused tracker Updated: October 28, 2026 Source: Talent market insights

The tracker is primarily focused on smaller technology companies. Using each company's most recently imported record, 436 of the 467 employers have fewer than 60 employees; five have no employee count recorded.

This is a snapshot of the adverts held in the tracker, not a survey of every startup or a count of vacancies confirmed live today. It measures what employers advertise, rather than what they ultimately offer.

The headline figures

859 adverts mention equity: 41.8% of the total.
218 companies mention equity in at least one advert: 46.7% of employers represented.
Equity is most frequently mentioned in adverts from companies with 26–50 employees: 48%.
49% of Senior adverts mention equity, compared with 25% of Early career and 14% of Graduate adverts.
Product & Design leads functions with at least 25 adverts, at 56%.
409 equity-bearing adverts—48%—name a scheme or instrument, such as share options, stock options, EMI or ESOP.
Only 18 adverts, from eight companies, quantify an individual award: 2.1% of equity-bearing adverts and 0.9% of all adverts.

Equity by company size

Percentage of adverts mentioning equity

Company size	Adverts analysed	Mentioning equity
1–10 employees	222	44%
11–25 employees	784	40%
26–50 employees	689	48%
51–100 employees	352	32%
Not recorded	10	40%

The highest advert-level rate is among companies with 26–50 employees. It is 48%, compared with 44% for 1–10 employees, 40% for 11–25 and 32% for 51–100.

Employee numbers can change between records. This table uses the size recorded against each advert; it does not track how an individual employer's equity policy changes as it grows.

Percentage of companies mentioning equity

This measures whether an employer mentions equity in at least one advert. Each company is counted once, using its most recently imported record for company size.

Company size	Companies analysed	Mentioning equity in at least one advert
1–10 employees	110	48%
11–25 employees	177	44%
26–50 employees	124	48%
51–100 employees	51	47%
Not recorded	5	60%

Company-level and advert-level rates answer different questions. A company may mention equity in some roles but omit it from others, and employers advertising many roles have more weight in the advert-level figures.