How to Hire Technology Talent Strategically During Market Uncertainty

The U.S. technology talent market is moving in two directions in 2026, creating a difficult hiring environment for firms. 

On one side, downsizing and restructuring continue, often linked to AI adoption, automation, cost control, and post-growth-cycle recalibration. On the other, demand for specialist technology talent is rising. U.S. tech employment is forecasted to grow by 1.9% in 2026, adding around 185,499 net new jobs, while April 2026 job posting data showed U.S. tech jobs reaching a three-year high, with demand rising across AI, software, cybersecurity, and systems roles.  

Giancarlo Hirsch, Managing Director at Glocomms, summarizes the current market sentiment: 

For technology leaders, this does not mean pausing recruitment, but being more intentional about where, who, and how you hire. Those who understand where capability gaps are forming now can secure high-impact technology talent before the market becomes more competitive. 

Why U.S. technology employers are hiring despite a cautious market

Technology hiring in 2026 is not broad-based in the same way it was during the post-pandemic growth cycle. It is now more targeted and more closely tied to business-critical outcomes. This means that although many companies are reducing duplicated roles, slowing non-core hiring, and using AI to change how teams operate, they are still investing in roles that support growth, resilience, and transformation.  

Giancarlo advises to firms:

This is the central hiring challenge for U.S. technology leaders. AI adoption is no longer a future planning topic. It is changing workforce planning, skills demand, productivity expectations, and operating models now. 

Where competitors are hiring in U.S. technology markets

Leading employers are focusing technology hiring on roles that improve efficiency, reduce risk, support product delivery, and create long-term value. Key areas include: 

AI, machine learning, and applied data science

AI remains the most active area of technology hiring. Companies need professionals who can build, deploy, monitor, and scale AI systems in commercial environments, particularly across machine learning, MLOps, data science, data engineering, LLM applications, and AI-enabled product development.  

As Giancarlo notes: 

This demand now extends beyond AI-native businesses. Enterprise software, fintech, healthtech, telecoms, logistics, manufacturing technology, consumer platforms, and professional services firms are all competing for the same AI capability. 

Cybersecurity and cloud security

Cybersecurity is currently one of the most resilient technology hiring areas. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for information security analysts to grow 29% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.  

Hiring demand is concentrated across: 

• Cloud security
• Application security
• Identity and access management
• Threat detection and response
• Security architecture
• Governance, risk, and compliance
• AI security
• Incident response
• Zero trust architecture

As companies introduce AI tools into more workflows, cyber teams also need to manage data leakage, model risk, third-party AI exposure, and secure software development. 

Download Glocomms’ USA Cybersecurity Compensation Guide. 

Cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and platform engineering 

Cloud hiring priorities have moved from migration-led demand to optimization, automation, reliability, and AI workload support. Employers need experts who can improve reliability, control cloud spend, automate infrastructure, and support AI-heavy workloads. 

The most in-demand candidates have experience connecting and managing infrastructure, security, cost, and business continuity. 

Data centers, networking, and AI infrastructure

AI growth is increasing demand for technical and infrastructure talent across data centers, networks, systems, hardware, and high-performance computing, especially among hyperscalers, cloud providers, data center operators, semiconductor companies, telecoms businesses, and AI infrastructure firms.  

JLL’s 2026 data center outlook projects nearly 100 GW of new data center capacity between 2026 and 2030, with capacity expected to double and power constraints becoming a major factor for growth.  

Software engineering and product delivery

Software engineering hiring has become more selective, but it is still active where employers can tie roles to commercial output, product quality, automation, and AI-enabled delivery.  

Companies need engineers who can work across complex platforms, improve delivery speed, build scalable systems, and use AI-enabled tools effectively, with a focus on improving technical efficiency and product outcomes. 

Technology leadership and transformation

Firms investing in AI and automation also need leaders who can turn ambition into operating change, with experience successfully aligning technology investment with revenue, risk, cost control, customer experience, and workforce productivity.  

High-priority leadership roles include: 

• Chief Technology Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Chief Information Security Officer
• VP Engineering
• Head of AI
• Product and platform leaders

Why top technology talent is still difficult to secure during cautious markets

Market uncertainty does not make high-performing technology professionals easy to hire. In many cases, it makes them more cautious. Giancarlo states: 

This creates a gap between employer demand and candidate movement. The best candidates may be open to a conversation, but they need strong reasons to move. 

To secure strong candidates, employers need to communicate: 

• Why the role exists
• How the role supports the company’s AI, cloud, cyber, data, or product strategy
• How stable the team, funding, and leadership are
• What success looks like in the first 6 to 12 months
• What tools, training, and investment are available
• How the role will develop as the market changes
• What compensation and progression looks like
• How quickly hiring decisions will be made

The cost of waiting too long to hire

A delayed technology hire might protect short-term cost, but it can create problems that are expensive to fix later and create long-term exposure. 

For technology employers, hiring delays could affect: 

• AI adoption, where pilot projects fail to reach production
• Cybersecurity, where lean teams face rising risk
• Cloud infrastructure, where cost and reliability issues increase
• Product delivery, where roadmap delays affect revenue
• Data platforms, where poor architecture slows decision-making
• Engineering teams, where leadership gaps reduce delivery quality
• Infrastructure growth, where data center, network, and hardware demand outpaces available talent

Waiting can also increase competition. If more employers re-enter the market at the same time, specialist candidates will have more options, compensation pressure may rise, and interview timelines will become harder to control. 

How to improve your technology hiring strategy in 2026

A strong technology hiring strategy starts with business outcomes. Every role should connect to revenue, resilience, risk reduction, productivity, infrastructure capacity, or transformation. 

Depending on your needs, this could mean prioritizing roles that support: 

• AI adoption and applied machine learning. Hire AI engineers, machine learning engineers, MLOps specialists, data scientists, AI product managers, and AI transformation leaders.  
• Cybersecurity and cloud security. Build capability across cloud security, application security, identity, threat detection, incident response, AI security, and governance.  
• Cloud infrastructure and platform engineering. Focus on cloud modernization, SRE, DevOps, Kubernetes, infrastructure automation, platform engineering, and FinOps.  
• Data platforms and analytics. Strengthen data engineering, analytics engineering, data architecture, data governance, and business intelligence.  
• AI infrastructure and data center scale. Secure talent across network engineering, systems architecture, data center operations, power and cooling, and high-performance computing. 
• Software engineering and product delivery. Prioritize engineers who can improve delivery speed, support AI-enabled products, and work across scalable platforms.  
• Technology leadership. Hire leaders who can connect technical execution with commercial outcomes, cost control, security, and workforce transformation.  
• Retention of high performers. Review compensation, progression, leadership quality, training, workload, flexibility, and long-term role relevance.  

Checklist: key technology hiring priorities for 2026

Technology employers can strengthen hiring plans by taking action now: 

• Map critical roles against AI adoption, cyber risk, product delivery, infrastructure growth, and revenue priorities.  
• Identify which roles competitors are still hiring for.  
• Benchmark compensation before launching a search.  
• Review retention risks across engineering, cloud, data, cyber, product, and infrastructure teams.  
• Build talent pipelines before roles become urgent.  
• Keep interview processes short, structured, and aligned.  
• Give candidates clear information on remit, funding, reporting lines, flexibility, progression, and decision timelines.  
• Move quickly when the right candidate is engaged.  
• Use contract, interim, or consulting talent where demand is uncertain.  
• Make permanent hires in core capability areas.  
• Plan for counter offers before final interview stage. Read our counter offer guidance for technology employers. 
• Make AI training, modern tooling, and skills development part of the employee value proposition.  

Build the technology teams competitors will wish they secured earlier

Market uncertainty is creating a hiring window for U.S. technology employers to secure the expertise needed to scale AI, protect operations, modernize platforms, and compete through the next phase of technology growth. 

Glocomms helps technology organizations identify, engage, and hire the right professionals across AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, infrastructure, software engineering, and technology leadership - learn more about our sector expertise. With specialist market knowledge, established candidate networks, and unparallelled insight into compensation, competitors, and candidate expectations, Glocomms supports employers solving complex hiring challenges across the U.S. technology market. 

Request a call back today to discuss how your organization can hire the specialist technology talent needed to move through market uncertainty and build stronger teams for 2026 and beyond.