ACM CareerNews for Tuesday, September 23, 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 18, September 23, 2025
The IT Job Market Keeps Shrinking (But Not For Everyone or Everywhere)
ZDNet, September 12
The current data shows the overall IT job market is shrinking, but there are surprising pockets of strength when it comes to tech hiring. One needs to look beyond the traditional IT field to see where opportunities are emerging in areas such as AI and blockchain. Based on better than expected U.S. economic data, IT opportunities will likely expand in the final two quarters of 2025. The positions available likely will be in small and medium-sized businesses versus larger enterprises. That could be a good omen for long-term IT job market growth. Historically, over 50% of all IT jobs have been created by small to medium-sized businesses.
Most unfilled IT positions are associated with artificial intelligence (AI), large language models, and blockchain. AI is showing its impact in IT as many customer service and monitoring positions are automated. Within the AI space, Python programming skills and AWS management are in greatest demand. While there is also concern about the future of software engineering, these roles are being redefined upward within organizations. AI is a big factor in IT employment disruptions. AI tools are increasingly generating large amounts of code of higher quality using a fraction of the resources. Across the industry, observers see growing opportunities in key areas such as AI. Demand for technology skills is uneven at this point. Generalist software roles are down, but demand for applied AI and data pipeline engineering is certainly rising.
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Mainframe Skills Gain Traction With Younger Techies
CIO Dive, September 16
Mainframe workforce demographics are shifting as veteran engineers retire and younger technologists join the ranks. In a survey of 1,000 mainframe technologists, just over half of respondents identified as millennials, up from 36% seven years ago. Generation Z mainframe professionals comprised 15% of respondents, a jump from just 1% in 2018. Based on this data, it appears that a new generation of professionals is embracing the platform, driving innovation and leveraging AI technologies.
While cloud computing threatened to supplant mainframe as a core enterprise platform, the compute workhorse has proven remarkably resilient. Broad concerns about data privacy and security related to the use of cloud-based generative AI technologies have helped bolster the reputation of mainframe in recent years. If enterprises have a mainframe, it is almost certainly running critical business applications, regardless of the industry. These organizations would not have a mainframe if it was not running a core application. Sentiment around the projected lifespan of mainframes has shifted along with the demographic composition of the workforce maintaining the units. Nearly every respondent to the survey (97%) viewed mainframe as a long-term environment suited for new workloads. Almost three-quarters of respondents said their organization was expanding its mainframe capacity, and more than one-third attributed the growth to novel applications or a mix of legacy and new apps. Generative AI workloads, including AI agent tools, are some of the most recent arrivals to the mainframe platform. More than 4 in 5 organizations have implemented or plan to deploy large language models in mainframe environments.
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The Skills Every IT Pro Needs in the AI Era
Spiceworks, September 18
The surge in popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changer for the workforce. That is especially true for IT workers, who are now expected to have some familiarity with AI, whether their job really demands it or not. In a recent survey, participants were asked how important AI knowledge and skills are when evaluating IT job candidates. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they expect all new IT hires to have a basic level of skill and competency in AI. Another 19% percent said they want new IT hires to have a foundational understanding of AI. Only 14% said they have no AI expectations for new hires unless specifically required by the position.
For organizations, AI has become a skills game-changer unlike IT has ever seen before. Executives say they are witnessing the most game-changing cycle in history, with the fastest adoption of technologies across both consumer and business in history. As a result, it is creating a clear skills gap. The pace at which new business cases are emerging is tremendous, while members of the workforce are simultaneously trying to build the technical expertise and the more practical skills needed to fully leverage AI inside a business. Also, with the democratization of IT adoption itself over the years, organizations are focusing on boosting the skills of their employees. The goal is to not only effectively measure the ROI of each AI use case, but to also collaborate closely with their IT colleagues to implement these solutions.
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IT Operations Career Paths in the Age of AI
CIO.com, September 18
Artificial intelligence is changing the way enterprise IT organizations hire. For years, IT operations teams defined their careers by deep technical mastery in areas such as system administration and service desk troubleshooting. But as AI takes root in day-to-day IT, the traditional rungs of the career ladder are shifting. Roles built on repetitive, manual work are shrinking, while new opportunities are opening up for leaders who can guide strategy, governance and integration.
Historically, IT operations has been an accessible entry point for people looking to break into the tech sector. Help desk roles, system monitoring and junior administration jobs offered people opportunities to learn on the job, then gradually move up to more advanced engineering or architecture positions. But AI is rapidly absorbing much of the repetitive work that defined these starting roles, which means this paradigm is shifting. This does not mean the career path is closing, though. It means the rungs are being rearranged. Entry-level hiring may taper, but professionals who bring baseline technical skills and the ability to manage AI-assisted tools will find themselves advancing more quickly. The trajectory is shifting from years of manual grind to faster elevation into oversight and design roles. Forward-looking organizations are already rethinking their pipelines. Instead of hiring large numbers of entry-level support staff, they are focusing on candidates who can quickly adapt, learn multiple systems and take ownership of AI-assisted workflows. For early-career professionals, that means certifications, continuous learning and cross-functional exposure matter more than clocking years of work in the same static role.
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Prioritize Skills Over Degrees to Secure the Next Generation of Tech Talent
Fast Company, September 16
As part of a new trend in IT recruitment, employers are shifting toward more skills-based hiring. Research indicates that nearly two-thirds of employers now prioritize skills when recruiting entry-level talent, with many leveraging tools to assess technical and problem-solving abilities rather than relying solely on academic credentials. This shift ideally should have happened decades ago, because the benefits are clear. Hiring for skills can help expand your talent pool, reduce hiring bias, and ensure better job matches.
Campus recruiting is emerging as a critical strategy for organizations to secure talent in a rapidly evolving job market. The transformative impact of AI on workforce dynamics and the unique advantages that university students bring to modern roles are largely driving the shift. Hosting campus events provides a direct pipeline to graduates equipped with modern technical skills and human-centric capabilities like creativity, problem-solving and collaboration. As AI reshapes industries, students are better prepared to fill roles that require a blend of technical expertise and soft skills. For instance, many academic programs now integrate AI literacy into their curricula.
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Half of Workers Are Job Hugging Because They Are Too Scared to Quit
Computerworld, September 15
Nearly one-half of full-time U.S. workers (45%) are staying in their current roles because switching jobs right now feels too risky. Among these so-called job huggers, 95% cite concerns about the job market as the main reason for staying put, according to a new survey by online resume creation site Resume Builder. Resume Builder surveyed 2,221 full-time U.S. workers in August 2025 and found that nearly half (48%) describe the job market as not very good, and 19% believe it is very bad. About 34% believe it is just OK.
A recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report also showed a significant cooling in tech worker hiring. While employers are still hiring, they are doing so more selectively, focusing on key areas amid uncertainty. The focus has now shifted to targeted growth: invest where it counts and hold elsewhere. Fewer job openings, softer wage growth, and longer job searches are signs of a slowdown. The hiring momentum that kicked off the year has been tempered by uncertainty. In August, 247,000 new tech jobs were added across industries, but sector-specific tech firms cut 2,311 roles. The tech unemployment rate nudged up from 2.9% in July to 3%, with 6.9 million employed in core tech roles.
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Top Talent Quitting Due to Stalled Career Growth
HR Dive, September 15
Top performers are leaving their roles amid stalled career mobility. New survey data proves this point. Promotions are down in 10 of 11 industries and internal hiring is down by 8%. Experienced employees also reported anxiety and disconnection due to artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. With AI rewriting the rules of work, the companies that succeed will retain top talent, create meaningful growth opportunities and have a clear strategy for human-AI partnership that drives results.
Based on surveys of more than 1,700 business leaders and nearly 1,000 job seekers, top performers departed with increasing alarm in about three-quarters of industries in 2024, with all industries seeing higher attrition rates. In addition, recruitment has become tougher, as more than half of open roles now take longer than 30 days to fill and a quarter take more than 60 days. High performers reported a lack of growth and career advancement, leading to lower engagement. Clear career pathways and transparent communication can help retain top talent amid organizational change, the report found. Employers also need human-centered AI strategies, particularly as 44% of employees reported negative comments about AI and strategy in internal surveys. Leaders may be disconnected from front-line workers, the report found, which could erode trust and engagement.
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No One Has Time to Work on Your Project
ACM Queue, September 5
To succeed in the world of IT, it is important to understand how to work effectively with very busy people to get things done. Imagine you are at a big tech company where people are rewarded for impact and initiative, and everyone is far too busy. Your job is to get people who have too much to do, do not report to you, and may not even be in your organization to work together to accomplish your project. Yet, by applying a few basic principles, you can help make working on your project seem more attractive and worthwhile to people.
Success boils down to a few basic principles and assumptions. What makes them effective is when you manage to combine all of them and apply them consistently. First, it is important to grasp the context of the situation. People may be overworked and stressed, but are nonetheless predisposed to do good. They are not out to deliberately cause harm. In most cases, their only opinion about your project is that it is something else for them to do, and they already have too much to do. Most people want to do a good job. Their definitions of what constitutes a good job will vary, but there are some common themes. They want to make steady progress toward a goal and cover their responsibilities toward that end. They want to see that their work leads to professionally or personally meaningful results. They want to be recognized for that work. Yet, at most high-tech companies, people often feel they are not doing a good job and experience diminished job satisfaction. They have too many tasks, conflicting priorities, and pressure to deliver ever more with fewer resources.
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Federal Research Investment and Innovation in IT: A Virtuous Cycle
Communications of the ACM, September 19
Federal government investment in research has consistently served as the foundation of American innovation, driving scientific breakthroughs, fostering economic growth, and enhancing national security. This is particularly evident in the field of computing, where foundational government funding has translated into transformative technologies and the rise of entirely new industries. Far from being a drain on public resources, these strategic investments act as a powerful catalyst, creating a virtuous cycle of discovery, application, and prosperity.
One of the most compelling arguments for federal research funding lies in its ability to support basic, high-risk, long-term research the private sector is often unwilling or unable to undertake. Companies, driven by quarterly profits and immediate returns, typically prioritize applied research with clear commercial applications. However, truly revolutionary advancements often emerge from fundamental inquiries into the unknown, without a predefined path to market. It is here that federal agencies, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), step in, providing the crucial early-stage capital for exploration.
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