Dive Brief:
- Tech hiring rates have not yet recovered from pre-pandemic levels, according to an Indeed report released Monday. The firm reviewed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports and internal data.
- The hiring platform finds information sector hiring dipped a full percentage point between February 2020 and October 2024, placing it alongside the construction industry in the list of hardest-hit verticals.
- "The labor market cooled in 2024, continuing a trend that began in 2022, as employers simultaneously pulled back on hiring but also held onto existing staff, keeping unemployment low and avoiding mass layoffs," Indeed said in the report.
Dive Insight:
In 2024, tech hiring trends reversed a streak of tight talent availability. Waves of layoffs at large tech organizations in recent years added available talent to existing pools and drove up competition for open roles, giving employers the upper hand.
Unemployment in IT professions has spiked during several months this year, reaching a four-year high of 3.7% in June, according to CompTIA data.
As 2025 nears, employers are recalibrating their hiring strategies to respond to changing enterprise demands. Generative AI adoption will push IT leaders to rethink team structures as more business units require data and other scarce skills.
Generative AI specialists remain a small sliver of the technology talent pool. Just two in every 1,000 job postings mention generative AI-related terms, according to Indeed. The technology’s productivity effects, for now, remain limited to specific industries.
"To realize the full potential of the tools, AI and generative AI adoption will need to become far more widespread across the economy as a whole," Indeed said in the report.
