Job seekers are still intrigued by the tech industry, even after layoffs and the threat of AI

• A new Indeed report suggests many people are considering software development work.
• That's amid less hiring in tech, layoffs at major companies, and concerns about the rise of AI.

Even though it seems like a rough time to jump into the tech industry, job seekers are still attracted to the sector.

Some computer programmers and software engineers feel like their jobs are doomed because of AI. And the first half of this year was dominated by recent layoffs at many household big tech companies.

However, many job seekers are still intrigued by this work — at least based on those searching for roles related to software development.

A new report from Indeed looked at its job posting data to see what's going on with job switchers and "sector stickiness" based on positions people are clicking on. The report notes that these clicks on job postings "may indicate that they are at least open to the idea" of moving on or are unhappy with the field they're in — even if they ultimately don't make that leap.

Per the report, "software development and nursing job postings on Indeed garnered the most interest from workers in other occupations" as of June, with 46% of clicks for software development jobs coming from those in other occupations. That's higher than the 33% in June 2022.

Additionally, the report found that "software development workers are the least interested in leaving their fields." This past June, "42% of workers who reported working most recently in software development looked at jobs outside their field." That's compared to 50% in June 2022. Meanwhile, the share was 70% for information design and documentation, another kind of tech-related category, in June 2023.

Attractive pay and the time it takes to build skills could be playing a role

Despite the popularity of software-development jobs, Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab and the author of the new report, told Insider these "roles are down almost 20% from pre-pandemic levels" on Indeed. However, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows openings in the information sector, which includes some tech firms, are broadly trending up again after generally trending downward in the second half of 2022. Despite those openings, BLS data also suggests hiring in this sector has recently plummeted.

Pay could be a reason why job seekers are thinking about positions related to software development.

"That's something that's going to attract people from outside of the field, but it's also something that's going to maybe make it tricky for people who are already in the field to go and find jobs elsewhere," Stahle said. "Because finding something that can either match their pay or maybe get them a pay raise can be tricky."

Another reason for retention in these jobs could be because of the skills needed for this work.

"This devotion to software development may also be attributable (in part) to the high degree of skill specialization, training, and experience often required for these roles," the report stated. "Similarly, other relatively 'sticky' sectors like nursing and driving also often require specialized training, experience, and/or licensing. Given the time investment often needed to obtain these skills and credentials, it would make sense that these workers could be reluctant to switch things up."

And for others, taking the time to acquire tech skills could also be a reason why people are attracted to these jobs.

"There may be cases where people have been training and trying to get into these jobs for a couple years, and now they're just to a point where they start to look for jobs as well," Stahle said.

The Indeed report notes that it could be the case that "fewer software development opportunities and growing layoff fears may also be influencing some currently employed software developers to hunker down and search out of their sector less, which may be leading to a lower outbound click share."

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also suggests layoffs and discharges are still relatively low for the information sector, with a rate of 1.3% in May 2019 before the pandemic and 1.1% as of this past May. Same is true for the quit rate, where the rate was 1.3% in May, which is below the 1.8% rate in May 2019, May 2021, and May 2022.

Job seekers eager to check out tech roles seem to be brushing aside the decline in postings, recent attrition, and concerns about the future of AI in the sector.

"I think that there's, amongst many job seekers, an expectation that software jobs are going to continue to be a good, high-paying occupation," Stahle said. "And as far as things like AI go, there's still kind of a lot to see as to the way that that's going to unfold. There's obviously a lot of productivity things that can be gained from that and a lot of promises of the future. But, I think as far as how that's actually going to impact the labor market and these jobs, that still remains to be seen."