Software job openings surge this year, defying AI fears

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The US jobs report on Friday was surprisingly strong. That's not the only part of the job market that's doing better than expected.

Tech job openings have rebounded sharply in 2026, challenging the popular narrative that AI is wiping out engineering roles.

Data from TrueUp, a tech hiring analytics firm, shows more than 67,000 software engineering job openings, the highest level in over three years. Listings have roughly doubled since a trough in mid-2023.

The most striking number for me: So far this year, the number of open roles has jumped about 30%. TrueUp tracks jobs at tech companies (rather than all types of businesses that may need tech workers), so the impact of AI should be felt even more strongly in this data.

"A lot of the 'AI is replacing engineers' narrative isn't grounded in job posting data — at least not so far," Amit Taylor, founder of TrueUp, told me this week.

Check out this chart, which shows open software engineering roles globally. The chart starts in late 2022, when ChatGPT emerged and started the generative AI revolution. The line goes the opposite way you would expect, given all the hand-wringing over AI lately.

The recovery follows a steep correction in 2022 and early 2023, when tech companies slashed hiring after over-expanding during the pandemic boom. Rising interest rates and a shift toward profitability forced companies to freeze hiring and cut staff. Now, hiring is rebounding as firms invest heavily in AI, which, ironically, requires large numbers of engineers.

TrueUp's dataset tracks more than 260,000 open roles across 9,000 tech companies, focusing on startups and public tech firms rather than the broader economy. Within that universe, demand for software engineers remains strong, while AI-related roles are "exploding," Taylor said.

So why does the situation feel so dire for some candidates, especially recent graduates? There are still entry-level tech jobs, but the pool of available talent is much bigger now.

"Way more people have pursued computer science," TrueUp founder Amit Taylor told me this week. "The jobs haven't disappeared, but competition for them is dramatically higher than it was even five years ago."

How might the tech job market evolve, as AI weaves itself through the economy?

"Maybe AI compresses some roles entirely. Or maybe it makes great engineers so leveraged that companies fight even harder over them," Taylor said. "Right now, the demand for top talent is strong, but maybe that continues for a while until things suddenly flip."

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