Will Tech Hiring Surge in 2024? Or Not? Here's New Data

After years of the market punctuated by layoffs, we look ahead to 2024 with cautious optimism. Let’s start with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and analysis from CompTIA which show tech industry employment growth for the start of 2024.

In January, the US tech industry grew significantly, with tech companies adding nearly 18K employees. The strongest gains were in technology services/software development and cloud infrastructure. 

This positive trend was reflected in a rebound of employer job postings for open positions. Employers posted over 392K active job listings for tech-related roles, with nearly 178K new postings in January. This represents a significant increase from December 2023, marking the largest month-over-month rise in a year. 

Related: Boomerang Hiring? Be Careful – It’s a Risky 2024 Recruitment Strategy

Hired predicts hiring will accelerate in 2024, especially in big companies (but not like in early 2022).

“There will be a resurgence in hiring, and the companies that made sizable investments into their tech stacks will have a higher advantage of landing key talent,” says Hired CEO Josh Brenner.

“Efficiency will continue to be paramount as companies move forward into 2024. So whether it’s expanding recruiter capacity or loosening budgets for hiring managers, those who’ve invested in a supportive tech stack will help their internal teams secure their top candidates the most.”

Related: Build a Recruiter Capacity Model 

Hired surveyed 250+ tech employers in Q4 of 2023, and the majority,  84%, expected to maintain or increase employee headcount budgets in 2024. More than half, or 53%, expected to increase. 

Responses indicated companies with between 101 and 299 employees are most likely to increase budgets. 

When divided by role, 69% of hiring leaders or executives indicated budget increases while 60% of hiring managers and 33% of TA/Recruiters agreed.

They’ll need to hire too, because more than 60% of tech workers surveyed plan to look for a new role in 2024.

Editor’s Note: Hired surveyed 1000+ tech workers as well.

Related: Cost of Vacancy: Why Hiring During Downturns is a Good Idea 

Hired’s CEO on ramping up hiring again in 2024

On an episode of Talk Talent to Me, Hired CEO Josh Brenner looked ahead at 2024 hiring while reflecting on the recent market. He says, “I want to be clear that we have been through this interesting journey over the past five years. 

I think the ‘resurgence’ is not to be confused with the rapid scaling we saw post-pandemic, starting in the spring of 2021. The resurgence I’m talking about is more like a pre-pandemic pace than the rapid period we saw from 2021 to 2022.”

He feels optimistic for this year, especially given the survey response on expanding headcount budgets for 2024. 

Josh noted he’s seeing “some companies, especially the smaller ones, realize that real growth is still important. While managing your costs is important for a small business, they need to show growth or it doesn’t make sense to be in business. We see some of that swinging back around with companies backfilling hires and pulling forward new initiatives.”

Related: Did You Know There’s a Hidden Pool of Tech Talent?

Which industries are hiring tech talent now?

Josh shared that Hired’s data indicates that “financial services companies are back in full swing. In a lot of ways, larger tech companies, while they have very publicly been shedding employees are also hiring on the opposite side of that. 

Startups, especially those focused on AI, machine learning, and the surrounding ecosystem have gotten a vast majority of the funding over the past year. As you can imagine, the need to hire comes with that funding.”

Josh’s optimism and his belief that tech is still an exciting opportunity and steady industry for people to grow their careers is reflected in recent stats on the unemployment rate. Tech occupations remained stable at 2.3%, while the national unemployment rate remained at 3.7%. 

Ready to restart recruitment?

When it’s time to fire up hiring again, knowing where to start may seem overwhelming. Follow this short checklist and check out our full guide to kickstart your tech hiring after challenging economic times with this guide.

• Reevaluate hiring needs
• Engage with past candidates
• Update online employer profiles
• Revise recruitment strategy
• Review salary benchmarks
• Plan for onboarding
• Measure effectiveness regularly

Related: Want to Win Top Tech Talent? Align with Candidate Preferences

Discover more tech recruiting and hiring predictions for 2024 to guide your strategy.