Companies quietly rehiring
A recent YouTube segment reported that firms are quietly rehiring software engineers into targeted, high‑value roles rather than running broad public hiring campaigns, noting trends like selective offers and focus on specific skill gaps. (youtube.com)
Software companies are hiring again, but many are filling narrow engineering jobs quietly instead of reopening the broad recruiting sprees of 2021 and 2022. (indeed.com) The wider market still looks restrained. Indeed said white-collar sectors including tech remain below pre-pandemic posting levels, with longer time-to-hire and more selective hiring in 2026. (indeed.com) At the same time, federal data still points to durable demand for software work. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects software developer, quality assurance analyst, and tester jobs will grow 15 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 129,200 openings a year on average. (bls.gov) What changed is the kind of engineer companies want. LinkedIn’s 2026 Jobs on the Rise ranking, as reported by Dice on January 14, put artificial intelligence engineers first and highlighted machine learning operations, data center, and infrastructure-heavy roles. (dice.com) CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce 2026 report forecast 185,000 new tech jobs in the United States this year, and the group said more than 275,000 active postings already mention artificial intelligence skills. (prnewswire.com) That helps explain why hiring can feel invisible to job seekers. Companies can cut one layer of generalist software jobs, then backfill a smaller number of roles in cloud platforms, cybersecurity, data engineering, or artificial intelligence systems without announcing a broad rebound. (comptia.org) The layoffs have not fully stopped. Layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech and startup cuts, says its database is still being updated in 2026, even as employers keep posting specialized openings. (layoffs.fyi) Some large employers are also signaling redeployment instead of all-out expansion. JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in February 2026 that artificial intelligence is displacing some workers and that the bank plans to move affected employees into other jobs. (cnbc.com) The result is a hiring market that looks contradictory from the outside: fewer public hiring surges, more competition for generalist roles, and steady demand for engineers who can build or run expensive, business-critical systems. (dice.com)
