Hiring signal: developer demand up
TrueUp data shared on social shows software‑engineering job postings at a three‑year high, with product and AI roles notably surging even as headlines focus on layoffs. Startups are still hiring juniors and full‑stack engineers, indicating pockets of sustained demand across the market. (x.com) (x.com)
The loudest story in tech has been layoffs, but the live hiring boards are telling a different story: TrueUp counted 64,247 open engineering jobs in April 2026, and its broader tracker showed 259,677 open tech jobs as of April 1. (trueup.io 1) (trueup.io 2) That engineering total is the highest level on TrueUp’s report in more than three years, and it sits 69.2% above the low point of 37,982 openings. Business Insider reported the same rebound as more than 67,000 software engineering roles, up about 30% since the start of 2026. (trueup.io) (businessinsider.com) The reason the layoff headlines and the hiring data can both be true is that they measure different things. TrueUp’s layoffs page shows 229 tech layoff events affecting 91,739 people in 2026 so far, while its jobs tracker is counting open roles across more than 9,000 startups and public tech companies. (trueup.io 1) (trueup.io 2) The biggest surge is coming from artificial intelligence. TrueUp’s April 2026 artificial intelligence report lists 36,641 open artificial intelligence jobs, up 334.3% from a low of 8,437, and software engineering is the largest category inside that bucket with 14,621 roles. (trueup.io) Product hiring is moving up too, which matters because companies usually add product managers when they think new software is worth building, not just maintaining. TrueUp’s March 2026 product report shows 7,379 open product management jobs, up 79.4% from the low of 4,113, with 1,135 of those roles tied to artificial intelligence companies. (trueup.io) This is not just a market for gray-haired veterans. TrueUp’s engineering report says 29,019 posted roles, or 45.2%, are entry-level and mid-level, while another 1,501 are internships. (trueup.io) Startups are still part of the picture, even if public companies dominate the raw totals. TrueUp counts 2,773 engineering openings at early-stage startups, 13,657 at unicorns, and 34,405 at public tech companies, which is why the market feels weak in some corners and busy in others at the same time. (trueup.io) The geography is concentrated in the same places that usually catch the first wave of a hiring turn. In engineering, the San Francisco Bay Area leads with 11,478 openings, followed by 4,993 remote roles in the United States, 3,355 in New York City, and 2,942 in Seattle. (trueup.io) The skills list also shows what employers think “developer” means in 2026. Python, Amazon Web Services, Kubernetes, Java, C++, TypeScript, React, large language models, and Structured Query Language are among the most common terms in engineering job descriptions, which is a mix of classic backend plumbing and new artificial intelligence tooling. (trueup.io) There is still a catch in the data. TrueUp says its tracker covers tech companies rather than banks, hospitals, retailers, and other employers that also hire programmers, and it notes that Indeed’s broader software-development index still looks weaker, so this rebound is clearest inside the top-tech employer universe, not necessarily across the whole economy. (trueup.io) So the cleanest read is not “tech is back” and not “coding jobs are dead.” It is that April 2026 looks like a two-speed market: companies are still cutting teams, but they are also opening thousands of new roles in engineering, product, and artificial intelligence at the same time. (trueup.io 1) (trueup.io 2) (trueup.io 3) (trueup.io 4)
