ACM CareerNews for Tuesday, August 19, 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 16, August 19, 2025

Thanks to rapid advances in AI, the skills and experiences required for success in an IT career are changing once again. Today, for example, there is a renewed emphasis on the need for human intelligence and insight in AI-related work. Technology always moves fast, but experts say AI integration in IT is reminiscent of the early days of the internet. While automation will likely take over tasks that were core IT skills, leaders say this shift can create opportunities for those willing to integrate AI, cloud platforms, data analysis, and security to solve problems and innovate.

Tech professionals can lean into the strengths of AI and away from its weaknesses to drive positive change for their organizations and their careers. As AI gets better at the heads-down technical work, the edge shifts to those who can zoom out to translate complexity and navigate ambiguity. These are the people who blend tech fluency with creativity, curiosity, and a knack for storytelling. Software engineering is an example. Coding skills are important but are no longer the only way to get things done. With AI code-assist and co-pilots in the mix, what is rising in importance is the ability to frame a problem, steer a solution, and spot when the machine misses the mark. It is less that entire roles are disappearing, and more that the definition of what makes them valuable is shifting.

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AI Jobs Resistant to Recent Hiring Slump
CIO Dive, August 8

AI-related job postings have weathered a broader contraction in tech talent demand, according to a new report from Indeed. Employer demand for AI engineers has soared by 334% since the beginning of 2020, making it the second fastest-growing tech job on the site. Machine learning engineers also remained in high demand, with postings up nearly 60% since 2020. Roles related to AI bucked a sector wide trend. Overall tech job postings on the site rose significantly through 2022, but have since fallen 36% from their 2020 levels. 

The tech job market grew significantly in 2021 and 2022, with unemployment among IT positions sliding to record lows. A boom and bust cycle ensued, as 2023 saw tech companies lay off thousands of workers. Tech job postings never fully recovered. Two main explanations have been offered for the collapse in demand for tech workers. One is that the sector is experiencing an overhang from its earlier hiring boom, aggravated by less supportive economic conditions. The other explanation is that the recent AI revolution has significantly reduced interest in hiring new tech workers. The broad enterprise AI adoption push accelerated the targeted hiring of specialist positions. By contrast, roles like software developer have contracted nearly 49% since the pandemic. 

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Is AI a Job Killer or Creator? Or Startup Rocket Fuel?
ZDNet, August 13

There are three ways of looking at AI in terms of career prospects. From one perspective, AI is a potential job-killer, taking over many high-paying computer science roles. From another perspective, it opens up new prospects for immersing oneself in AI development and oversight skills. And, finally, it could be the lever that lifts the career paths of professionals into the startup space, opening up abundant opportunities. Ultimately, it may help people more successfully launch and guide their startups. From this perspective, AI makes it easier for founders to launch new enterprises.

AI could help reduce some of the risk that accompanies launching new ventures. This could help people transition from the traditional job market to a new startup job. Right now, up to 90% of startups fail, due to competition, misguided product strategies, or overwhelming costs. The greatest advantage of AI is its ability to test new business ideas very quickly. What used to take months or years can now be prototyped and tested in weeks. At this point, AI should be at the core of most, if not all, startups. Many startups were already using AI in some form before ChatGPT changed the game. Even those not using it yet are figuring out how to integrate it into their strategy. If you want to survive, grow, and raise money, becoming AI-first is not optional anymore.

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Is a New-Collar Career the Way to Go in 2025?
Silicon Republic, August 15

New-collar jobs represent a new change to the modern workplace. The term is broadly used to describe a different way of working. Simply put, new-collar is a term associated with people who, instead of taking the more linear route of higher education, choose to explore alternative, non-traditional educational paths. This might include smaller colleges, technical institutions, internships, bootcamps, and certification programs. New-collar roles are often in highly technical fields, as more and more companies focus on skills-based hiring over more formal or standardized qualifications. Often new-collar roles require a blend of technical ability and soft skills.

While it is possible to land a new-collar job in a number of different fields, research shows that the main industries for this role include healthcare, engineering, technology and software. There are many reasons as to why the traditional route towards a career would not suit everyone. The first being that it can be an incredibly expensive process and may be too far outside of what is possible financially. Alternative routes that are more flexible and less pricey, such as part-time courses, online tutorials or smaller institutions, can give students the chance to work, save money and attend lectures, all at the same time. Research shows, reflecting recent technological and societal shifts, there are opportunities in areas such as the cybersecurity sector, for those with skills in navigating a complex space. There are also roles open for new-collar experts in healthcare, particularly for medical coding specialists, people skilled in robotics and pharmacy technicians, among others. In technology, there is a demand for professionals with a diverse skillset that can be applied to jobs like cloud computing, IT support, web development, UX design, field service engineering and a range of related administration roles.

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Stop Letting AI Sabotage Your Resume: Tips from Hiring Experts
Dice Insights, August 8

Using an AI-powered chatbot like ChatGPT can streamline the process of creating a resume, but relying solely on AI-generated content can cause hiring managers to reject you. In general, candidates should never copy and paste directly from AI to create a resume. Not only can it make your resume look like every other resume, but it also raises concerns about authenticity and the effort you are willing to invest in your work. In fact, one survey of hiring managers showed that nearly half of AI-generated resumes are automatically dismissed.

The proliferation of AI tools is creating a surge in new applicants. To keep pace, recruiters often use AI detection software to flag resumes that rely too heavily on AI. Eliminating these applications helps recruiters focus on candidates who demonstrate initiative, align with the role and company culture, and truly stand out. AI-generated resumes often contain too many buzzwords, lack context for accomplishments, and fail to convey a unique impact. Sometimes resumes created from the same source or prompt share similar language patterns, odd formatting, or even plagiarized content. They can also include incorrect or irrelevant information. Many hiring managers find that AI-generated resumes lack the human touch, nuance, and strategic thinking that showcase what is special about you.

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We Have Reached the End of the Job Market
Fast Company, August 8

In the current tech hiring environment, even highly-skilled and highly-motivated IT professionals are finding it harder than they thought to find a new job after a layoff. This, despite the efforts of many to apply to all the jobs that they might be remotely qualified for. Even after combing through every single job description, researching every company, and reaching out to as many people as possible, the jobs simply are not there. In some cases, candidates report applying to 500 or more open positions.

According to experienced jobseekers, it might not make sense to focus solely on creating an AI-friendly resume. There are simply too many ways that AI can be used to screen a resume. In short, there is no single AI-friendly format, and everyone is probably doing the screening differently. And, even if you do optimize your resume for AI, you might not get the types of follow-up options you are expecting. Another takeaway is that many of the mid-level jobs that once existed are no longer quite so easy to find. There are still a lot of just above entry-level jobs, and there are still a lot of director-level and higher positions. But there is a lot less emphasis on management. One possible factor is that many companies view many functions, aside from sales, as primarily AI-driven these days.

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The Job Hunt Is a Brutal Slog. Here Is How That Could Affect Your Hiring Process
Inc.com, August 15

The process of applying for a new job is both time consuming and emotionally complex. But a new report shows that the process is becoming increasingly difficult for many job seekers in the U.S. Based on a survey of nearly 1,000 American workers who have experienced a layoff within the past two years, researchers found that more than half of them had submitted over 50 applications to suitable companies before landing a new job. Moreover, one in five of the people surveyed said they had submitted more than 100 applications.

Today, many applicants report a continuous cycle of searching for a job, filling out applications, sending them off, and then repeating the process. Along the way, they attempt to tailor what each application says to meet the unique needs of each employer. Meanwhile, more than 30 percent of survey respondents said they had been unemployed for over 90 days before finding a new job, which happened despite the fact that one in three people began looking for new work immediately, and more than three in four of them began searching inside a month of being laid off. Five percent of the respondents said they were without work for over a year. The data shows that transitions between different types of careers are becoming unusual. Approximately 85 percent of people who found new work did so in the same industry that had previously employed them. And in terms of barriers to finding a new job, nearly six in 10 respondents said that the prospect of lower salaries was the biggest challenge.

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Half of Workers Have Experienced a Quarter-Life Career Crisis
HR Dive, August 15

More than half of U.S. workers say they experienced a quarter-life career crisis between ages 20-35 or are currently going through one. Workers pointed to factors such as stress, instability, disconnection, and stagnation in their careers, ultimately leading to burnout and uncertainty about their path forward. In fact, 27% said they are not confident their current job will exist in five years. Although the experience can be incredibly difficult to navigate, many younger workers come out of it with a stronger sense of direction and greater career clarity.

In a survey of 2,200 U.S. workers, 77% said they think about work during their off time, and 22% said it is on their minds nonstop. In addition, 65% said they feel stressed or overwhelmed during their typical workday, and 26% feel that way often. Many of the top stressors are the result of instability and leadership challenges, such as difficult managers or co-workers, job insecurity or layoff concerns, a lack of clear expectations or direction, organizational instability, and micromanagement. Although 59% of workers described themselves as engaged, 60% said they are bored in their roles, 71% said they are burned out, and 54% said they feel stuck in their job. When thinking about what could help, workers pointed to flexible work options, support systems and skill-building opportunities. Workers highlighted skill development, in particular, as a vital way to stay competitive, with 43% saying their top priority includes boosting their skills with technology or artificial intelligence tools.

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How Context Mastery Creates the New 10x Engineer
Blog@CACM, August 14

For years, engineering organizations have recognized the exceptional value of the 10x engineer. This is the developer who combines deep technical skills with the ability to solve complex problems and deliver outsized impact. These engineers have always possessed something more than pure coding ability. They understand systems, anticipate problems, and make decisions that ripple positively through entire codebases. But AI has revealed a crucial insight about what actually makes these engineers so effective. While many have long attributed their success primarily to superior coding skills, the real multiplier has been their mastery of context.

With large language models (LLMs) handling more routine coding tasks, context mastery is becoming both more visible and more valuable. The new 10x engineer still writes excellent code, but their superpower lies in how they capture, structure, and leverage context to amplify both their own capabilities and those of their entire team. This evolution also presents a tremendous opportunity for engineering leaders to multiply the effectiveness of their team by addressing longstanding challenges in knowledge management and team scaling.

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Global AI Cultures
Communications of the ACM, August 8

Although generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a global endeavor, there is often little consideration of the diversity of the cultural, linguistic, and national environments in which it is embedded and framed. To better understand the deep implications of this emerging technology, generative AI needs to be situated more deliberately and rigorously in wider and more diverse cultural geographies. While communities of AI researchers and practitioners have taken important steps in this direction, a truly global approach to AI can only emerge if the computing community emphasizes the centrality of culture.

The term culture includes not only intellectual activities but also all the ideas, customs, and social behaviors that make up a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period, a group, or humanity in general. Thus, any definition of culture should be in the plural. That is, it should take into account not only the specific and variable cultures of different nations and periods, but also the specific and variable cultures of social and economic groups within a nation. A focus on AI cultures can help researchers identify and counteract the limits of universalism. After all, generative AI is perceived and represented as having no cultural or geographical coordinates. More efforts to consider the cultural dimension can empower innovative contributions and support the creation of technology with the potential to reach more diverse and wider communities while also preserving the true breadth of human experience and understanding.

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