Yes — but the demand looks different than it did a decade ago. Fewer companies are starting brand-new projects in raw PHP, but a huge and growing amount of existing PHP needs to be built on, maintained, secured, and modernized. That shift changes where the work actually is, not whether it exists.
Where the real demand is concentrated
WordPress and WooCommerce
Millions of active WordPress sites need ongoing custom development, security fixes, performance work, and WooCommerce store builds. This is consistently one of the largest sources of PHP work available to freelancers and agencies alike.
Legacy application support
A large number of businesses run internal tools and customer-facing applications built in PHP years ago. These systems still need developers who can safely maintain, patch, and gradually modernize them — work that rarely shows up in trend articles but pays steadily.
Modern framework roles
Laravel in particular has created a real market for PHP developers building new SaaS products and internal tools with modern tooling, testing, and deployment practices.
What makes a PHP developer more in-demand
- Comfort with a modern framework, not just legacy procedural code
- Real WooCommerce or e-commerce experience, which pays a premium over general WordPress work
- Security awareness — businesses actively look for developers who can audit and harden existing sites
Putting it together
PHP demand hasn't disappeared — it's shifted toward maintaining and extending an enormous existing footprint rather than greenfield projects, and that kind of work is remarkably steady. If you have a PHP project that needs support or a fresh build, feel free to get in touch or take a look at my PHP development services.