Tech hiring market stabilizes while demand rises for emerging technology, return-to-office & skills-based recruiting
Motion Recruitment, a top 15 largest U.S. IT staffing firm, released its 2025 Tech Salary Guide, an annual report identifying significant industry trends and providing compensation data analysis for over 100 tech jobs, incorporating thousands of data points. It also includes expert advice for hiring leaders and job seekers on adapting to the changing tech job market. Below are four key trends.
1. The tech job market shows signs of stabilization.
IT unemployment rates have been below the national U.S. average since 2019, despite volatility driven by economic conditions, rapid hiring, layoffs and investment curves. There are 56% more tech job postings than five years ago, with 70% of IT job seekers receiving multiple offers, but IT salary growth on average is nearly flat year-over-year, with only a 1% increase overall.
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2. Despite initial concerns, Artificial Intelligence is actually expanding the IT workforce.
In fact, 48% of organizations plan to add workers due to an increase in AI investments, compared to just 19% looking to downsize. Other industries and technologies like Quantum Computing, Digital Twins and Green Tech are also seeing increased roles, but another significant workforce trend is that industries outside tech have hired more IT workers in total this past year as they adopt digital innovations.
3. IT companies are moving to skills-based hiring methods.
The IT skills shortage has resulted in an estimated $5.5 trillion in losses due to product delays, reduced competitiveness and lost business opportunities. Moving away from strict traditional criteria, tech companies have successfully taken a skills-based approach, looking at track records and previous projects to gauge current skill set and potential.
- Over 89% of companies are happy with their change to a skills-based hiring method.
- Tech workers without a traditional college degree are 20% more likely to stay in their jobs.
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4. Tech workers head back to the office.
Even as fully remote work remains popular, more companies are requiring tech workers to return to the office. The average time spent in the office has jumped from 1.1 days per week to 3.4 days. Only 10% of job postings now offer fully remote positions. Despite this, top tech candidates still have flexible choices, as 70% of tech job seekers are receiving multiple job offers.
“As we approach 2025, tech hiring managers and candidates are seeing notable shifts. While hiring is on the rise, 87% of tech professionals feel secure in their current roles,” said Matt Milano, President of Motion Recruitment. “To attract talent, companies must be quick to move on top candidates and flexible in their total compensation package. Job seekers should base their expectations on the current market, not past inflated figures – and be prepared to come in-office for a higher starting salary.”
Candidates and employers alike can leverage market data to navigate the evolving tech landscape successfully, starting with becoming informed on market trends and current salaries through resources like Motion Recruitment’s Tech Salary Guide and other industry reports.
Motion’s Tech Salary Guide not only assesses the latest data, reporting and insights to better understand the market value of IT positions across cities and technology stacks but also to provide actionable insights for the tech community. The information is based on thousands of tech jobs and verified against other industry leaders’ reporting to provide salary data for mid to senior-level technologists.
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Source – PR Newswire
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