What the IT Job Market Looks Like in 2026: More Competition, Uneven Demand

Lately I’ve been getting noticeably more DMs from people who are looking for work. Instead of relying on my gut feeling, I decided to check what’s happening in the IT job market using open sources.

The big picture: the market doesn’t look “dead,” but competition for roles has clearly increased. According to LinkedIn analytics, the number of applicants is now outpacing the number of open positions more than at any point since the post‑pandemic period.

Different regions, very different dynamics

United States: job postings are up, but so is the crowd

In the US, the number of tech job openings in March has grown three years in a row:

• ~438k in 2024
• ~478k in 2025
• 537k+ in 2026

At the same time, the number of candidates per role has increased noticeably. So even with more openings, it can feel harder to stand out.

Europe: cooler market, but strong talent is still hard to hire

Across Europe, demand for ICT specialists remains, but the market is no longer as “hot” as it used to be. What’s easy to miss here is a key nuance: even if the number of vacancies declines, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s easier to hire great people.

In practice, companies can still struggle to close strong candidates—because the best specialists are selective, and the bar for fit (skills, domain experience, communication, and location constraints) keeps rising.

Russia: the toughest picture in the open data

If you look at publicly available indicators, the sharpest shift right now is in Russia. The IT hh.ru index (resumes per vacancy) moved like this:

• January 2024: 7.4 resumes per vacancy
• January 2025: 9.9
• January 2026: 21.3

That’s a dramatic rise in competition. In January 2026, the number of active IT vacancies was 39% lower than a year earlier, while the number of active resumes was 30% higher.

India: healthier momentum, and AI is pulling the market up

India looks more optimistic in comparison:

• The hiring index grew from 2890 in Feb 2025 to 3233 in Feb 2026
• IT/Software Services: +6% YoY
• AI/ML roles: +49% YoY

The takeaway is pretty clear: “classic” IT is cooling, but AI‑related directions are doing the opposite—they’re pulling the market upward.

My takeaway

What I’m seeing in the data matches what I’m seeing in messages: the demand hasn’t disappeared, but the competition pressure has increased, and it’s not evenly distributed across geographies or specializations. If you’re navigating a job search right now, it’s worth thinking in terms of where you’re competing and which segment you’re in—because “IT” as a single market is increasingly a misleading simplification.