For the first time since the COVID-tech boom, the Salesforce job landscape does not appear to be as unfavorable as it has been for the last couple of years. Demand is slowly creeping up, the general landscape is maturing, and the partner ecosystem has hit a new high with a 25% year-on-year (YoY) growth rate.
The partner ecosystem has never been more important than it is now, especially as Salesforce continues to prep partners for the agentic present and future, but, like with most job trends, this high has come with some considerations.
The State of the Partner Ecosystem
According to data from consulting agency 10K’s latest Salesforce Ecosystem Report, there are now more than 3,700 firms on the Salesforce AppExchange, resulting in a 25% growth YoY. The fastest growth has come from “small, highly specialized partners,” as the number of firms with one to five certified experts grew 41% – more than double the 19% growth rate in 2024. In fact, this partner growth is the highest rate of growth since 2020.
The dispersion between partners now is also noteworthy – the top five partners in the ecosystem still hold 33% of all certified experts, but this actually represents a 21% decrease in concentration in the last five years. This is good and bad news for customers, as they are now presented with more choice but more complexity surrounding their choices, too.
Digging Deeper
The fact that consultant supply growth has held steady this year (at 10% compared to last year’s 9%) has very likely influenced the current state of the partner ecosystem – consultants might be moving into adjacent roles like the Business Analyst or working independently/on-demand as working requirements change.
However, it is estimated that 40,000 new consultants entered the market this year – coinciding with the rapid consultancy firm expansion – which alludes to the fact that their importance is being revised in the new AI era.
Consultants – like architects – now have an increasingly crucial role in modern Salesforce implementations as AI enters more discussions, plans, and workflows, and customers will likely be relying on them much more to get projects off the ground.
Partner Distribution
This year, established markets make up 84% of total global demand, with North America’s growth rate coming in at 34% YoY and Australia and New Zealand’s growth rate faring at 44% YoY. In fact, Australia’s comeback is particularly significant as this growth rate represents a monumental comeback compared to 2024’s 67% decline.
Earlier this year, Salesforce announced that it would be investing $2.3B in Australia over the next five years, which has likely played a considerable role in this comeback. When you also consider that, according to IDC research, Salesforce and its partner ecosystem in Australia are projected to generate 245,000+ jobs and over $46B in revenue by 2028, it is not surprising that the continent is gearing up for a wealth of growth and change.
However, the story for Europe looks very different. With a 15% decline in demand – the largest drop among all established markets this year – this could signify that customers and partners are moving to a more globally distributed delivery model due to cost pressures or difficulty in finding the talent they need.
Offshoring has been a continual trend in the Salesforce ecosystem and wider tech ecosystem for quite some time now, and the results of this are finally materializing. However, even here the landscape is changing – India, which has long been considered the hub for tech offshoring – has experienced a 4% drop in demand while other Asian markets (excluding China) have benefited from a 44% increase in demand.
There are more options for customers now than ever before, but for professionals, the competition has also never been starker.
Final Thoughts
After two tough years, demand is ticking up, partners are multiplying (and specializing), and customers have more choice – plus more complexity. Winning customers will get precise about outcomes, architecture, and governance, selecting partners for proven specialization and putting playbooks in place for blended delivery, security, quality, and handover.
For professionals and partners, the bar is rising. Individuals who pair platform depth with consulting skills – data governance, integration, security, change management, and AI readiness – will stand out. Firms that focus on niches, align with the agentic roadmap, and prove outcomes will outperform. The ecosystem is expanding but re-sorting; those who get deliberate about where they play, how they deliver, and how they evidence value will ride the next wave.
