Who will maintain the web when PHP’s veterans retire?

A Perforce 2026 PHP Landscape Report surveying over 700 developers reveals a growing skills gap in the PHP ecosystem: more than half of PHP developers have 15+ years of experience, while only 15% have five years or less. Hiring has become the top challenge for PHP team managers, with 24% citing lack of skilled personnel as a leading operational concern. Analysts warn this isn't just a PHP problem but an open source problem, compounded by AI-generated code creating silent technical debt without enough junior developers to manage it. Despite the talent crunch, PHP remains foundational — tied with JavaScript at 72% usage — powering millions of e-commerce sites, WordPress installations, and APIs, mostly at companies with fewer than 500 employees. Symfony and Laravel lead the framework landscape.