Design Workforce Projected to Grow 30% by 2029, IDC Finds
International Data Corporation (IDC) has published new research quantifying the expanding population of professionals involved in software design. The analyst firm projects the global workforce engaged in designing digital products and interfaces will grow by more than 30% between 2025 and 2029, driven by rising demand for design-intensive solutions and the accelerating pace of development.
The research, sponsored by Figma, is based on a model IDC built for knowledge workers in software design. The model incorporates survey responses from more than 1,000 IT and business leaders across a variety of industries and company sizes, supplemented by in-depth qualitative research.
Key Projections
IDC's model forecasts the population of knowledge workers and developers dedicated to software design will expand from 107 million in 2025 to 144 million in 2029. The report identifies several notable trends within this growth:
- UX design roles lead growth. The subcategory of UX design professionals is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.6% through 2029, outpacing other knowledge worker roles in the study. This faster growth is tied to expectations for more design-intensive digital products.
- GenAI changes the development cycle. The report expects generative AI to accelerate the delivery of well-designed products and expand user choice. At the same time, integrating AI capabilities into products adds pressure on design and development teams to ensure these features remain highly usable and visually appealing.
The full findings, including IDC's methodology and detailed data, are available for review. The report is titled Global Workforce Engaged in Software Design Expands to 144 Million by 2029 (doc #US53309325, May 2025) and is published as an IDC Executive Spotlight.
