Engineers now 55% of big tech hires, up from 46%

Key takeaway

• Despite widespread fears that artificial intelligence would eliminate software engineering jobs, hiring data from venture firm SignalFire shows the opposite is happening.

• Engineering roles at major tech companies declined only 11% compared to a 25% drop in overall hiring, and engineers now represent a larger share of new hires than they did in 2019.

• The pattern suggests AI tools are making engineers more productive and generating more work for them, not replacing them.

3 Key Points

FAQ

Which companies did SignalFire study?

SignalFire analyzed hiring data across more than 80 million companies, with detailed tracking of the 12 companies it classifies as 'Tech Majors': Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Uber, Airbnb, Block, and Stripe.

How much did engineering hiring decline compared to other roles?

Engineering roles saw an 11% decline in hiring at large tech companies compared to 2019 levels, whereas total hiring across those companies dropped 25%.

Has AI actually eliminated any engineering jobs so far?

Anthropic's head of economics, Peter McCrory, told TechCrunch in March that he had not yet seen any significant AI-driven effects on the workforce, noting no material difference in unemployment rates between workers heavily exposed to AI tools and those in roles less exposed to AI.