What recruiters should know
jQuery usage has dropped from 84% of the top 10,000 websites in 2019 to under 60% in 2025 (BuiltWith). Developer adoption fell from 43% (Stack Overflow 2020) to ~22% (2023). No new projects are built with it — demand is exclusively legacy maintenance, primarily WordPress and CMS ecosystems. Companies are actively migrating away. Not recommended as a primary skill to develop.
In plain terms
Fast, small JavaScript library simplifying HTML DOM manipulation
Industry demand
Overall level
low
Trend
declining
Top hiring sectors
- Legacy CMS & WordPress Maintenance
- E-commerce Legacy Systems
- Government Legacy Web
- Digital Agencies (Maintenance)
Proficiency ladder
What each level looks like in the work — behavioural markers, not job titles.
At this level, a developer can…
- Basic selectors
- Event handling
- DOM manipulation
- Followed tutorials