Author: Lenny Rachitsky

Headlines are dominated by layoffs, and anxiety about AI taking jobs is everywhere—but if you look past the headlines and examine the data, a very different story emerges.

Hiring in the tech industry is showing many encouraging signs, along with some noteworthy new trends:

1. 1. Product Manager (PM) openings are at their highest level in over three years
2. 2. AI is not slowing demand for software engineers (at least not yet)
3. 3. AI-related roles are exploding
4. 4. Design roles have stagnated
5. 5. The Bay Area’s importance continues to rise
6. 6. Remote work opportunities continue to shrink
7. 7. Despite ongoing layoffs, the total number of tech jobs is still growing

First, where the data comes from

This analysis is based on data from TrueUp, a job data platform tracking hiring activity at over 9,000 tech companies worldwide. TrueUp tracks the most sought-after, highest-paying roles at tech companies—excluding positions at non-tech companies and consulting firms. You can browse all open jobs here: https://trueup.io/jobs

The full report is here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/state-of-the-product-job-market-in-ee9

While these numbers are encouraging, I know many people are genuinely struggling in their job search right now. More open roles don’t mean everyone finds a job faster. If you’re in that situation—first, I feel you; second, I’m working on ways to help more. Until then, the end of the full report compiles a set of practical resources that might help increase your chances of landing an offer.

PM Roles: A Three-Year High

There are currently over 7,300 open PM roles at tech companies globally, and the number is still climbing. This is 75% higher than the low point in early 2023 and has grown nearly 20% since the beginning of this year alone. This is the highest number of open PM roles since 2022.

Engineer Demand: AI Hasn’t Hit the Brakes (At Least Not Yet)

There are currently over 67,000 open engineering roles at tech companies globally! The US alone has 26,000. We can’t know if this number would be higher without AI, or if AI is actually creating more roles—but what’s clear is that the growth rate of open engineering roles has accelerated further since the start of this year.

If you’re skeptical about the sustainability of this growth, here’s another interesting signal: demand for recruiters is also surging, with open roles nearing 2022 peak levels. The recruiter role was hit hardest post-pandemic but has also recovered the fastest. Simply put, the size of recruiting teams naturally expands and contracts with hiring demand, making it a leading indicator—hiring demand in tech is likely to remain high.

AI Roles: Hockey-Stick Growth

The growth of AI-related roles can only be described as explosive. When we last updated the data mid-last year, AI role growth was already fast, but now—it’s hockey-sticking.

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