Dive Brief:
- Employee confidence among technology professionals dipped in February amid layoff waves and tepid hiring, according to a Tuesday report from Glassdoor. The company measured the percentage of full-time and part-time employees who report a positive six-month business outlook at their companies.
- Confidence among workers in tech fell by more than seven percentage points year over year, the largest dip across all industries tracked in the report. Fewer than half of tech workers gave a positive depiction of their businesses in the Glassdoor confidence index.
- “Tech workers can see the soft job market out there,” Glassdoor Chief Economist Daniel Zhao said in an email to CIO Dive. “They know they have less leverage right now and that’s bleeding into how they feel about their current jobs.”
Dive Insight:
IT professionals are dealing with a laundry list of employment disruptions that includes rounds of layoffs, a complex hiring environment and the fallout from AI adoption on hiring strategies.
Companies in the technology sector announced more than 33,000 layoffs so far in 2026, up more than 51% from the same period last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas data.
Key contributing factors to tepid tech hiring include global regulatory concerns, tariffs and broader economic uncertainty, Challenger said in its report. And while CompTIA pointed to several positive hiring indicators last month, IT unemployment ticked up to 3.8% amid headwinds in the national economy.
For CIOs, supporting employee engagement within IT departments is critical, Zhao told CIO Dive, as disengaged workers don’t voluntarily leave and engaged workers grow frustrated by a lack of opportunities for advancement.
“This is a crucial time for leaders to reassure workers that you’re invested in their careers and their futures,” Zhao said. “Even if there isn’t budget for promotions and raises, it’s incumbent on leaders to come up with ways to offer growth opportunities to workers, helping them develop new skills or gain new experiences.”
Glassdoor found career growth to be a consistent driver of employee satisfaction, Zhao said.
Career growth often includes skills development. For AI, that can add complexity to the equation, as employer desires for an AI-ready workforce don’t always line up with available training opportunities, according to LinkedIn data.
Two-thirds of executives expect employees to develop AI skills in the coming months, but less than half of U.S. professionals surveyed by LinkedIn said they felt supported in the process.
Executives can benefit from the current hiring environment by finding opportunities to bridge their existing skills gap as workers look elsewhere for growth.
“The softer job market also means there’s plenty of high quality talent available on the open market,” Zhao said. “That’s especially useful for smaller companies that might not ordinarily be able to compete for top tier talent.”
