Regardless of 2024 being a difficult yr for a lot of tech professionals, marked by layoffs and fewer job alternatives, a brand new report from Cube signifies that the state of affairs could possibly be worse.
In a survey of 520 absolutely employed U.S. tech professionals, 80% keep a constructive outlook for the tech sector within the subsequent 5 years. The extra rapid image acknowledged that “layoffs have been notably extreme this yr,” with 60% extra tech professionals dropping jobs in 2024 than in 2023.
Moreover, the report discovered “a notable lower within the proportion of full-time workers inside the tech sector.” In final yr’s survey, practically half of respondents (48%) have been employed full-time. This yr, that determine has dropped to 38%, which factors to a troubling development of diminished job stability, in accordance with the report.
The proportion of respondents who’re unemployed however actively in search of work has risen sharply, from 34% in 2023 to 40% in 2024.
Regardless of the turbulent occasions, the survey’s extra stunning findings are that “in comparison with final yr, a considerably bigger variety of tech professionals presently employed full-time are actively in search of new roles and usually tend to change employers within the coming yr,’’ Cube CEO Artwork Zeile instructed TechRepublic. “That is taking place regardless of their decreased confidence to find a good place inside the tech trade.”
Views on tech development within the present economic system
The report famous blended sentiments on the way forward for tech development.
Almost one-third of tech professionals (31%) stay cautiously optimistic about financial situations over the subsequent yr, unchanged year-over-year. Nonetheless, an virtually equal share of tech professionals harbor pessimistic views, indicating a break up in financial sentiment throughout the trade. Simply 20% of youthful professionals between the ages of 18 and 34 have an optimistic view of the economic system, the bottom amongst these surveyed.
Tech professionals who maintain a extra optimistic view attributed their constructive outlook to:
- A powerful perception in technological progress.
- Confidence of their capabilities.
- The presence of favorable financial indicators.
“In an election yr, it isn’t stunning to see that this optimism is commonly tempered by an consciousness of potential challenges, together with financial and political shifts that might affect what the subsequent yr brings,’’ the Cube report said.
The extra pessimistic tech professionals expressed issues about financial coverage, job market volatility, inflation, and political instability.
SEE: Hiring Equipment: Immediate Engineer (TechRepublic Premium)
Areas of focus: AI surging, cloud know-how declining
The survey additionally discovered an emphasis on AI and machine studying expertise, which “aligns with tech professionals’ expectations that AI/ML would be the most quickly rising area over the subsequent 5 years.” Already, 76% of HR professionals reported that their companies already provide the chance to be skilled or upskill in AI or ML expertise.
Regardless of the heavy concentrate on generative AI, “fewer tech professionals appear to have adopted the know-how into their workflow than anticipated, with simply 30% utilizing GenAI at the least as soon as per week,’’ Zeile famous.
The concentrate on cloud applied sciences has “declined considerably this yr,’’ to 46%, in accordance with the report. This can be because of the maturity of cloud applied sciences lately, driving the skillset to be extra generalized and main fewer professionals to put money into upskilling on this space.
Different areas that tech professionals mentioned they have been coaching/upskilling in anticipation of future development are cybersecurity (46%), large knowledge (43%), Web of Issues (22%), and robotics (15%).
What tech professionals need of their subsequent position
Almost all job seeker respondents (94%) are concentrating on full-time positions. Motivations for contemplating a job transfer embody:
- Increased compensation (65%).
- Larger accountability (42%).
- Improved advantages (36%).
“These components spotlight a workforce that isn’t solely financially motivated but in addition in search of profession development and stability,’’ the Cube report mentioned.
Dissatisfaction with their general profession, job, and administration are the components propelling tech professionals to change jobs. This dissatisfaction can also be compounded by a greater fee of burnout, which is 3.3 occasions extra widespread amongst these planning to change employers, in accordance with the report.
The main explanation for burnout cited by these professionals is a “poisonous work atmosphere,” reported by 28% of these more likely to swap — adopted by unfair pay, which was talked about by 21% of the tech professionals on this group.
Most tech professionals can discover roles in industries exterior of tech that also leverage their specialised tech expertise. Nonetheless, working inside tech is the clear choice amongst surveyed individuals. Almost seven in 10 tech professionals would most prefer to work for a tech firm, and 21% choose to work for giant tech corporations particularly.
Whereas tech layoffs and a decline in sure roles have outlined a lot of 2024, Zeile identified that “sure tech subindustries akin to cybersecurity are … going through an acute scarcity of staff with very particular skills.” He cited the 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Examine, which discovered there are 4.8 million tech professionals wanted worldwide to fill open cybersecurity roles.
Zeile stays optimistic in regards to the future for tech professionals, saying “new applied sciences, akin to AI, are already altering the panorama — bringing extra new forms of jobs and definitely extra wanted expertise to the market than they’re taking them away.”
He added, “Whereas in the present day’s hiring panorama could seem tumultuous, if there’s one factor historical past and knowledge persistently present, it’s that hiring traits are cyclical. Indicators are pointing to tech hiring choosing up in comparison with final yr. Tech professionals and functions should keep optimistic and proceed their concentrate on constructing their profession for the long-term.”
