U.S. Job Openings Rose to 6.95M
U.S. job openings increased to 6.95 million in January even as layoffs ticked lower — a mixed signal that hiring demand remains but is reshaping around AI and specialized technical roles, reported. For hardware talent, that means competition for niche skills like verification and embedded systems is still strong.
Hires held steady at 5.3 million in January, and total separations were 5.1 million, according to the BLS JOLTS release bls.gov. The January print topped economist consensus of about 6.7 million openings, a surprise noted in KPMG’s market commentary that said the month beat forecasts by roughly 396,000 openings. prismnews.com BLS’s annual revision showed the 2025 average openings fell to about 7.1 million from 7.3 million, signaling the broader trend that openings are down year-over-year even as monthly bumps occur. kpmg.com Jobs that explicitly mention AI continue to expand: Indeed’s AI Tracker hit 4.2% at year-end 2025 and AI-related job postings surged more than 130% versus pre‑pandemic patterns, concentrating the limited hiring that does occur. hiringlab.org Semiconductor and hardware hiring remains niche and competitive—recruiters and boards list hundreds of verification and embedded roles (EmbeddedJobs shows 160+ semiconductor verification listings) while industry analyses link rising AI‑chip revenue and fab investment to sustained engineer demand. embedded.jobs The Los Angeles aerospace cluster is still actively recruiting hardware and embedded talent: SpaceX posted Summer 2026 silicon hardware internships and current Starlink embedded roles in Hawthorne, and Northrop Grumman lists systems/embedded openings in El Segundo, underscoring local competition for students and junior engineers. job-boards.greenhouse.io Public announcements paint a mixed picture: Challenger, Gray & Christmas recorded 108,435 layoff announcements in January—the highest January total since 2009—even as JOLTS showed layoffs and discharges levels around 1.63 million, illustrating a simultaneous wave of firm-level cuts and ongoing targeted hiring in specialized technical functions. cnbc.com
