ACM CareerNews for Tuesday, August 5, 2025
ACM CareerNews is intended as an objective career news digest for busy IT professionals. Views expressed are not necessarily those of ACM. To send comments, please write to [email protected]
Volume 21, Issue 15, August 5, 2025
AI and Automation Talent Demand Doubles as Tech Hiring Slows
ITPro Today, July 29
Demand for AI and automation talent has doubled year over year. This marks a sharp divergence from overall IT hiring trends in early 2025. In the first quarter of 2025, AI and automation roles accounted for 6% of total job fills, up from just 3% during the same period last year. This growth occurred even as temporary work remained flat or declined, and overall IT and tech role fills contracted by 2% year over year. Meanwhile, total job fills across all sectors rose by 7%, suggesting that AI and automation are gaining share regardless of broader macroeconomic conditions.
The doubling of AI and automation roles year over year, contrasted with a decline in overall IT hiring, is a clear signal that the workforce landscape is undergoing a structural shift. Automation roles have gained significant ground, rising from 32% of AI and automation job fills last year to 44% this year. In contrast, data engineering roles dropped from 46% to 32% over the same period. The shift suggests a growing focus on operational efficiency and streamlined systems, rather than purely expanding artificial intelligence capabilities. Hiring organizations are looking for AI literacy, automation fluency, and more specialized skills. This needs to be embedded into educational programs across disciplines, from healthcare to business and engineering. At the same time, people entering roles will bring varying levels of AI or technological fluency, adding further complexity to how teams function and new expectations on tech professionals to bridge those gaps. Higher education institutions must become more agile and innovative in updating curricula and rethinking how organizations assess future readiness.
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The Tech Job Market Is Showing Positive Signs Especially If You Are Experienced
Dice Insights, July 17
In June, tech job postings increased 4.1% month-over-month and 4.0% year-over-year. Experienced IT professionals are seeing the biggest gains. While total tech job postings grew 7% in the first half of 2025, positions requiring 10+ years of experience surged 17%. It appears that companies are specifically hunting for senior talent who can hit the ground running and solve complex problems from day one.
If you are an individual contributor with solid technical skills, this market shift plays directly to your strengths. The data shows explosive growth in specialized roles that require deep expertise. Some software developers saw 215% month-over-month growth as insurance companies modernize their core systems. Jobs for reliability engineers and substation engineers jumped 179% and 172% respectively, driven by infrastructure and energy sector transformations. Companies are not just looking for technical leaders. They want people who can bridge the gap between engineering teams and business objectives, manage complex projects across departments, and build systems that scale.
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Tech Companies: Stop Using AI In Hiring. Do This Instead
Inc.com, July 25
The use of AI in the tech hiring process may be hurting, and not helping. In the current job market, there is seemingly no level of human experience that cannot be replaced by an AI agent. If the trend continues, every tech company will be hiring AI agents and not humans. For this trend to reverse, tech leaders need to embrace a new approach to hiring top talent. While AI can play an important role in making tech hiring decisions, it should not be the sole driving factor.
One possible sign that AI-powered hiring is in trouble is the rapid growth of AI video interviews for job candidates. For nearly a year, they have been growing in popularity with recruiters. But they have failed to win over job candidates. The best recommendation, according to a growing number of experts, is not to sit for one of these AI interviews. The process itself is not fully baked yet, and there is a good chance you are just training fodder for an AI model. The other sign of trouble is the emergence of obvious AI avatar job candidates. AI agents are being thought of and even treated like actual employees, so inevitably, someone is going to hire an avatar when they intend to hire a human.
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What the CIO Role Will Look Like in 2028
CIO.com, July 28
Over the next few years, AI will transform the CIO position. Indeed, some IT leaders are seeing changes already. And while some CIOs will see more change than others in their businesses, industries, and roles, what CIOs do and how they do it will inevitably change because of AI. Regardless of the pace of change, it is clear the CIO role will continue to evolve. The CIO of the future will need to be more strategic, more technically astute, and more visionary than ever before.
This shift is already beginning, as the CIO role continues to evolve. According to new survey data, three-quarters of IT leaders are already collaborating closely with line-of-business (LOB) leaders on AI applications, with 71% also saying the IT department is driving AI adoption efforts with business units. Additionally, three-quarters of surveyed IT leaders expect to become even more involved with AI and machine learning over the next year. The survey further found that a growing percentage of CIOs are moving away from being functional leaders to being transformative and even strategic. While 41% consider themselves strategic today, 52% say they expect their roles to be strategic in the next three to five years.
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Here Are 15 New Jobs AI Could Create
ZDNet, June 25
Over the past year, there has been plenty of commentary about the prospect of artificial intelligence (AI) usurping or taking away job opportunities. However, AI will never operate entirely on its own in a vacuum. There will always be a need for skilled professionals to make sure any systems or solutions are doing what they are supposed to be doing. As a result, some interesting new types of jobs may emerge in the future that have yet to be conceived. The next wave of jobs will be about shaping how AI shows up in the world, not just building it.
One job title that could be popular in the future is AI Agent Interaction Architect. This will be the person who designs how AI agents interact with each other, with systems, and with humans across complex workflows. Currently, organizations build software for user interfaces, but in the very near future, organizations will be architecting agent conversations that will define how one LLM consults another, how visual data APIs are invoked in context, and how these multi-agent systems stay coordinated, reliable, and permission-aware. This role will sit at the intersection of system design, security, and UX.
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Employees Brace For AI-Driven Change
CIO Dive, July 29
Employees are bracing for change as AI adds anxiety about job security and stability, according to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. workers. As AI becomes more mainstream, it is only intensifying the perceived need for AI-related skills. More than one-third of employees consider the technology essential for daily tasks, and one-quarter of respondents have overstated or exaggerated their AI capabilities during the hiring process. Nearly half of workers are taking steps to secure their financial and professional futures, such as increasing savings and starting side gigs.
Technology upgrades and rollouts, particularly those that add automation functionality, can be worrisome to employees. Around two-thirds of business leaders said AI has led to division between IT teams and other departments, as well as between executives and workers, according to a report published in March. The friction stems from implementation and development approaches, such as creating applications in a silo and a lack of support during a roll out. Employees surveyed also admitted to trying to sabotage the AI strategy of their company by pushing back, ditching training, or refusing to use the tools. AI adoption efforts are futile if companies cannot get employees on board. To help mitigate concerns, companies are working to boost trust and transparency.
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Laid Off From IT? How to Transfer to a Cybersecurity Role
BuiltIn.com, July 30
One of the best moves from an IT career is into the rapidly-growing cybersecurity field. Cybersecurity jobs are expected to grow 33 percent in the next decade, much faster than other industries. That growth equals more than 17,000 projected job openings every year. If you have been laid off from an IT position and are looking to make a change, cybersecurity can be the perfect mix of growth opportunities and chances to transfer your existing skills. Moving to a new industry can be challenging, but finding ways to stand out from the pack can unlock new opportunities.
Even with the recent tech layoffs occurring in 2025, cybersecurity is still a strong, growing field with competitive salaries and numerous job openings. People who have worked in IT support, system and network administration or software development often find a positive transition into cybersecurity due to the many overlapping skills they possess. In many ways, the experience of IT support personnel translates to key cybersecurity functions. For example, the ability to diagnose and resolve unusual system behavior is essential in both IT and cybersecurity. Just as you would troubleshoot a server crash or connectivity issue, security analysts investigate suspicious activity to prevent or contain breaches. Understanding how networks function, as well as how data moves through your organization and what normal network activity looks like, will also help you spot signs of cyber attacks. This knowledge allows you to configure and maintain network devices securely, monitor for hidden threats and make sure only authorized users have access to important resources.
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Only One-Quarter of Employees Sticking to Core Hours
Silicon Republic, July 28
Due to changing work demands, IT professionals are increasingly working outside of their usual hours in order to stay on top of their workload. For example, only 25 percent of employees are adhering to their core hours. More than one-third (37 percent) stated that they either start early or finish late every day and 38 percent explained that their hours are dependent on their workload. Professionals cited a number of factors contributing to an excessively long work day, including catching up on work and meeting deadlines.
Despite the skills shortage impacting hiring efforts in many regions of the world, most employers still expect the same level of productivity and output, putting immense pressure on the existing workforce. The response of nearly one-half (45%) of the workforce to the skills shortage has been to redistribute the work among the existing team. Another 26% said that they employ less skilled professionals to fill the gaps. The research suggests that this has led to a disrupted workforce, with 66% of people describing the current workload as too heavy and demanding. Although numerous employers are increasing hiring in 2025, skills shortages continue to leave many crucial positions unoccupied, leaving existing staff to pick up extra tasks and projects just to maintain growth. With so many identifying their workloads as heavy or demanding, it is only a matter of time before this escalates into widespread burnout.
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The Vibe Coding Imperative for Product Managers
Blog@CACM, July 31
Vibe coding is not a new tool or methodology, it is a fundamental change in how organizations turn ideas into products. It marks a profound difference in how companies approach product development, from initial ideation to strategic execution. For product managers working with AI, understanding vibe coding is longer optional. It has become a competitive necessity.
Vibe coding is a groundbreaking shift in software development. Instead of writing code line by line, you describe what you want in plain English. AI figures out the rest. According to many product managers, it is not coding in the traditional sense. Powered by advanced large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4, vibe coding flips traditional programming on its head. Think of it like having a conversation with a good developer who never gets tired, never gets frustrated, and can instantly turn your ideas into working software. The barrier between having an idea and seeing it work has almost disappeared. Key characteristics of vibe coding include: natural language input; multimodal interaction (voice, text, images); conversational development; and the use of AI agents.
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The Transformative Power of Inspiration In Your Career
Communications of the ACM, July 23
If you are launching a new career or making a mid-career change, it is important to be surrounded by inspirational people who can support and motivate you to pursue your interests and passions. They can reinforce a belief in cooperation instead of competition as the best way to grow and move forward. When you reach a more senior level, this is a skill that you can then pass onto others. Even if you are older and more experienced, it is still important to connect with other people, ask for their help, and join forces. A career is not built solely by yourself, it is the people around you who help you build it.
At all stages of a career, inspiration can be a strong motivational factor. For many computer science professionals, the power of inspiration starts at the university level. As new technologies emerge, they can often foster a life-long fascination with computer science and the rapid pace of technological development. The rise of the Internet and the start of the World Wide Web, for example, was a powerful inspiration for many to get more involved with computers and new technologies. In some cases, inspirational role models can lead to individuals getting highly involved in cutting-edge technological research, launching new companies, or pursuing new job opportunities that leverage a wide range of skills or experiences.
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