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The past year has been a relatively tough one for the tech sector and job stability, especially hiring prospects, but there’s more to the story within this forever-churning market.
A new survey of 910 technology professionals and employers, published by Dice, finds strong undercurrents of both short-term pessimism and long-term optimism for the tech job market. In addition, those working in artificial intelligence (AI) are far more confident in their career prospects than other IT pros. Surprisingly, tech professionals aren’t fully on board with generative AI (gen AI).
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These findings are based on two separate surveys conducted by Dice. The first was based on responses from 520 fully employed U.S. technology professionals, coupled with responses from 390 human resources professionals.
Many tech professionals are concerned about their short-term prospects — 31% remain cautiously optimistic about the economic conditions over the next year, unchanged year-over-year. An equal percentage of tech professionals harbor pessimistic views. Younger tech professionals, those aged 18 to 34, are the least likely to hold an optimistic view of the economy, at only 20%.
In fact, only four in ten tech professionals express confidence in finding a new role that meets their expectations — a significant decline from previous years. Still, around 80% of tech professionals expect the tech industry to continue its growth trajectory over the next five years, the survey shows.
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Regarding any downturns in tech hiring, “what we found tells a more nuanced story,” the study’s authors explained. “As expected in a tough climate, the economic outlook among tech professionals is more negative than in previous years. Equally concerning, many of them feel their bargaining power slipping away and are reluctant to take risks.”
At the same time, while fewer tech professionals feel confident about finding new roles, an increasing number are still actively pursuing new job opportunities. This year, 39% of tech professionals are engaged in job searches, up seven percentage points from 32% in 2023.
In addition, the desire to switch employers has grown, with 67% considering a change this year, compared to 60% last year.
The survey also found that technology professionals aren’t fully onboard with gen AI. “Overall, tech professionals are hesitant about the adoption of AI tools into their workflow,” the survey’s authors report.
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According to the survey, “just over a third of tech professionals say that they never use gen AI tools, a slightly larger portion than the 30% who use it at least once a week.” This is mainly voluntary, as only 8% say their companies restrict its usage. The age group most likely to use gen AI at least once a week is the 18-34 group, at 38%.
40% of tech professionals believe that AI will significantly impact their work in the next year, while only 8% predict it will have no impact.
AI professionals are more confident than other tech professionals in terms of career advancement. A majority of AI professionals, 58%, are confident about advancement, compared to only 36% of other tech professionals.
It also looks like employers will be struggling to hold on to their talent. A significant portion of AI professionals, 73%, intend to change jobs over the coming year, compared to 65% of general tech professionals.
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AI professionals are also gravitating towards the big tech companies than their broader tech counterparts, At least 29% of AI professionals want to work for big tech, compared to 18% of general tech professionals. “This is possibly due to an interest in being part of higher-budget, higher profile AI projects or because they feel more confident in their hireability in general,” the Dice authors surmise.
Delivering value is another matter within mainstream companies — and often, AI projects may just be for sure. Just over half of AI professionals feel the AI projects they are working on are strategically valuable to their company. One-third believe their AI-related projects are “primarily used to show stakeholders the company is doing something with AI.”
