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Even though the tech job market shrank by 4,800 jobs in the first seven months of 2024, there are signs that hiring may stabilize or increase slightly in the fourth quarter of this year, according to CIOs.
Their predictions closely align with recent surveys which show that 15 percent of IT staffing companies have seen an increase in new orders in the last three months (the highest since mid-2022) and 58 percent of employers plan to add technology staff in the second half of 2024.
However, the demand isn’t evenly distributed across all sectors, and CIOs will be careful to avoid adding staff too quickly as they continue to work through the cycle of over-hiring and cost cutting, noted Susan Snedaker, CIO for El Rio Health and author of “Renovating Healthcare IT Building the Foundation for Digital Transformation.”
For instance, even in healthcare, which is considered to be recession-proof to a large degree, Snedaker sees some organizations ramping up and others scaling down.
To help you plan and execute a more effective job search, here’s a look at what tech leaders expect in terms of hiring for the rest of the year and their advice for coming out ahead.
Modest Demand for Professionals with Hybrid Skills
While CIOs forecast slow but steady job growth through the end of the year, for the most part they will not be looking to fill vacant positions. Instead, they’ll add professionals who can fulfill a specific business or operational need.
With turnover in traditional roles slowing down to a crawl, tech leaders have some capacity to execute transformational or strategic initiatives that are designed to boost overall performance or meet business objectives, in some cases by adding artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to existing solutions, Snedaker explained.
Moreover, the biggest demand for talent will be in companies outside the tech sector and AI-related startups that have secured funding rounds.
For instance, after leading a two-year technology build out at LogicMonitor, CIO Ryan Worobel will be adding staff in the fourth quarter to assist with consolidating platforms and putting the private equity-backed firm into a more scalable position.
While it is entirely possible to compete for one of these positions or even switch to a new industry by focusing on transferable skills and experience, take note: CIOs will be looking for hybrid skills.
 “Don’t pigeonhole yourself in your resume,” Worobel advised. In many respects, we are in uncharted territory, because there are still legacy systems being used—but from AI to cloud and more, emerging tech is driving business reinvention.
Showcasing yourself as someone who can work on both sides—i.e., with older and newer technology—can set you apart from other candidates.
Snedaker looks for a combination of business and technical knowledge as well as soft skills, such as the ability to communicate with end users, when she interviews candidates from other industries.
For instance, if you want to pursue a role in cybersecurity, come to the interview with some idea of how healthcare cybersecurity is structured, the risks, and some opinions about how interoperability efforts must address these concerns.
“You don’t have to be right, just make an effort to tell me what you observed and what you learned,” she said.
AI Hype vs. Reality
In another bright spot for technology workers, CIOs don’t see AI eliminating jobs, at least not yet. So far, AI is simply reducing cognitive load.
That said, because we are still in the early stages of the AI hype cycle, candidates need to demonstrate some familiarity with AI-enabled technologies on their resumes to make it through the screening process.
Even if you have limited hands-on experience, or have simply observed someone on your team use an AI tool to optimize a process or generate code from a prompt, just be honest about your level of knowledge and involvement. You’ll need to cite specific examples to back up your claims during interviews.
Inflating your experience on your resume can backfire, CIOs warn. Instead, use a cover letter to tie together tangentially related experiences such as a side gig, project or team effort.
Costs Matter
With the economy sputtering and the cost of employer-sponsored health plans projected to rise 9 percent in 2025, CIOs will continue to be cost conscious when it comes to considering new full-time employees throughout 2024 and into next year.
“The math has to tie out,” Snedaker noted.
Surveys show that finding operational efficiencies and increasing productivity has held the number-one spot on CIOs’ top enterprise priority for four years in a row and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
The hiring boom is still on pause, so job seekers really need to rethink their salary expectations and be more flexible when it comes to titles and coming back to the office or accepting hybrid work schedules, Worobel said.
At some point, the pendulum will swing back to a more candidate-driven job market. But in the meantime, flexibility can mean the difference between an offer and a missed opportunity.