State of Tech Hiring 2025

Think the majority of recruiters are overwhelmed, scared and reluctant to adopt AI? Think again.

More and more recruiters are using AI.

A good portion (43%) are optimistic about how AI can help make their lives easier, and 65% want to use it more.

While 16% are skeptical about the future of this technology, only 4% are actually worried about their job prospects.

9% are worried about ethics and the potential for misuse, which is valid. We address bias and cheating, for example, in this report.

Yes, more and more recruiters are embracing AI.
BUT, they need support to navigate this transformation.

57% of recruiters say that they aren’t trained to use AI at work. This can have very real implications for hiring—and businesses—in 2025. 

That said, considering how new these accessible, work-applicable AI technologies are… we’re pleased to see that 36% have already received AI training and 8% are in the process of learning how to use and interact with GenAI as part of their job.

We hope and expect to see this number grow over the next year—and we plan to play our part too.

Note: we know that a significant number of TA pros are teaching themselves. We see you!

You’ve probably read this a gazillion times by now, but AI has become a standard tool for developers. 

Last year, 67% of tech professionals surveyed were already using AI as part of their job, and 60% wanted to use it more. 

Adoption and experimentation continues to grow across all industries and roles. 

But, we all know tools that are common, but underwhelmingly helpful. What about GenAI?

76% of developers deem GenAI to be (varying levels of) useful. 13% are neutral, and 11% are yet to see its real use.

Is GenAI useful? Yes. Is it 100% accurate? No.

Developers still need to review, edit, adapt, tweak, build on, or correct AI-generated code.

Whether or not a developer can do that ☝️ efficiently is exactly what you need to be assessing as part of your tech hiring process.

Tests and interviews based on real-world scenarios will help you do this.

Finding qualified candidates and identifying potential (beyond skills) are, consistently the top two challenges that recruiters face. 

In third place for the first time: evaluating soft skills. 

Recruiters are finding it increasingly difficult to assess developers’ soft skills (communication skills, emotional intelligence, teamwork skills, adaptability, leadership skills, etc.). 

Our take : soft skills are best evaluated during live interviews. That’s why behavioral questions should a mandatory components of technical interviews.

We’re more than happy to see technical interviews and asynchronous coding tests getting lots of love. 

But 72% of recruiters leaning on a resume review as a method to assess developers’ technical skills? 

We believe this can—and should—change.

We already knew that the resume, despite getting some stick, hadn’t disappeared from hiring processes. But we wonder, and worry, what criteria are employers looking for in a resume review?

How many hidden gems might you uncover with a screening process based on skills? 

90% of developers say that a technical interview is the best setting to showcase their skills.

Are your making sure that yours are top-notch, from interview environment, to interview questions?

And take homes?

As was the case last year, developers are still showing an interest in take-home projects (despite the criticism they get). 

Last year, take-homes came in as developers’ first choice, this year, they’re in second place. 

Indeed 46% of developers consider that take-home projects with work samples are the most effective way to express their abilities.

So what’s pushing developers to give “meh” feedback on coding tests? 

Our respondents highlighted three top areas for improvement: 

• Lack of relevance to the actual job role (54%)
• Unreasonably short time limits (40%)
• Excessive focus on obscure algorithms or trivia (38%)

In other words, your tests need to be more realistic.

Related read: Checklist: What Makes for a Realistic Coding Assessment?

While candidate cheating in the era of AI is a valid concern (as you’ll see below), it’s not something that’s troubling everybody. 

Roughly 28% of recruiters are not worried about AI facilitating cheating, 23% are on the fence, and 49% are worried.

While we don’t think that there are any cases where impersonation is okay… we do have questions.

The top two types of cheating highlighted by recruiters are: 

• Copying code from others or the internet
• Using unauthorized resources, like Google or books

But…?

Developers regularly use “external” resources on-the-job.

They search Google for a reminder, because they haven’t used a certain language in a while. 

Or they use Copilot to generate ideas, but edit the code using their skills, judgment and experience. 

Or they copy-and-paste a solution from Stack Overflow, but then test and debug from that foundation.

If, in “real life”, these are considered pragmatic, efficient ways to solve problems, why should they be forbidden in a recruitment setting?

How is that contributing to creating a realistic hiring experience?

Among those that are cheating, 48% of them are using AI to generate or optimize code. 

In their top 3 means to cheating, developers also state:

• Copying code from the internet or previous projects
• Using unauthorized online resources or forums

We encourage recruiters to focus on “how can I test a developer’s understanding of the code they’ve submitted” rather than “how can I be sure of its source”. 

Related watch: How to Proactively Mitigate Cheating in Your Technical Hiring

What is it that makes developers want to stick around?

While a competitive salary and benefits package is important (33%), it’s less important than a positive work-life balance (43%). 

Indeed, from TikTok trends (#savetheday, #bareminimummondays, #actyourwage, etc.) to interviews, we’re seeing people prioritize their wellbeing, set boundaries and reassess their approach to work.

Developers are no exception. 

How does your organization promote work-life balance? And how do you showcase these efforts to candidates?

We don’t see the number of new tech hires picking up massively in 2025.

Indeed, this year 60% of recruiters say they’re looking to hire less than 50 developers (vs. 54% in 2024).  

Does this have something to do with the “Great Stay”, the role of externalization, or maybe upskilling?

We can’t be sure, but we can hypothesize. What’s your prediction?

For the first time in 8 years, “AI specialists” are one of the top 3 most sought-after tech profiles.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen demand for this position grow. In 2023, 18% of recruiters were looking to hire AI or Machine learning specialists. In 2024, 21%. This year, 27%.

Back-end, full-stack and front-end engineers are also—consistently—in high demand.