Tech jobs are hot despite layoffs from Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft

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Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are experiencing mass layoffs, but job prospects for candidates across the broader tech ecosystem are poised to be among the best of any industry in 2023, according to a new ranking.

Eight of the top 10 “best jobs” in the U.S. this year are tech roles, according to Indeed, which makes an annual list of the best roles for job seekers.

Those tech jobs, according to Indeed rankings, are full-stack developers, at #1; data engineers (No. 2); cloud engineers (#3); senior product manager (#5); backend developers (#6); Site Reliability Engineers (#7); machine learning engineers (#8); and product designer (#10).

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Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners and Psychiatric Nurse Mental Health Professionals were the two non-tech jobs in the top 10, ranking respectively at No. 4 and at no. 9.

Nearly half, 44%, of the top 25 were tech jobs.

The possibilities in technology extend beyond the traditional tech giants to areas like retail, finance, professional services, travel and tourism, all of which need technologists to build companies’ online presence and business. said Scott Dobroski, career trends expert at Indeed.

“The technology skill set is in high demand by companies around the world,” Dobroski said. “Because every company today is a technology company.”

Indeed’s ranking is based on “opportunities” for job seekers, meaning that roles were expected to be growing rapidly. For example, there were 1,398 full-stack developer positions available out of every million ads advertised on Indeed, the highest share among other jobs. (A full-stack developer creates the front-end and back-end of a website.)

All the jobs on the list pay annual salaries above the national average. At least 10% of their advertised positions offer remote or hybrid work, an increasingly important metric for American workers, Indeed said.

Tech giants announce mass layoffs

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

That general tech roles are poised to get hot in 2023 may seem counterintuitive, at a time when traditional tech giants have been announcing mass job cuts in recent weeks.

Google announced Friday plans to lay off 12,000 people, the largest reduction in the company’s 25-year history. Microsoft said last week it would lay off 10,000 employees through March 31. Amazon said earlier this month it would cut more than 18,000 jobs, the biggest in its history. Meta said in November it would cut more than 11,000 roles, 13% of its staff.

In some cases, the layoffs are a meltdown of overzealous hiring at the onset of the Covid pandemic, and not necessarily a harbinger of a broader economic malaise. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy hinted at this overextension when explaining the rationale for their respective layoff plans.

Company officials are also bracing for a possible recession in the United States. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, hoping that rising borrowing costs for consumers and businesses will slow demand across the economy and reduce high inflation.

Still, labor market indicators don’t suggest a recession is imminent, economists said, and overall, it’s a good time to get a job.

Job opportunities (a barometer of employers’ demand for workers) and employee quit rates (a barometer of confidence in finding a new job) are near all-time highs despite a slight slowdown in the last months. Wage growth is still strong, especially for people changing jobs, and the unemployment rate is roughly the lowest it has been in 50 years.

Technical skills are “in high demand”

Tech skills are “in high demand across the economy,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, wrote in November. Government agencies, aerospace companies, healthcare systems and retailers are among the employers “frequently” citing shortages of software engineers, cybersecurity professionals, data analysts and web designers, Pollak said.

“Had tech companies continued to grow at the breakneck pace of 2020-2021, they would have monopolized US tech talent and made it impossible for employers in non-tech sectors to hire tech talent,” he said. “Now, other industries may have a chance.”

Aside from the good news for existing tech workers, high demand for tech skills is also a “big sign” of where opportunities exist for those starting or switching careers, Indeed said.

Employers are willing to find skilled candidates in “nontraditional ways” in today’s hot job market, Dobroski said.

For example, workers can often acquire some basic technical skills through software engineering boot camps, online courses, or certificate programs that last several weeks or a few months, he said.

Currently employed workers, especially those at large companies, may be able to take advantage of mentoring opportunities and new workplace learning programs to acquire different skills or pursue different career paths internally, Dobroski said.

Workers should also consider where their current skills can transfer to another discipline, Dobroski added. HR roles, some of which make the top 25 best jobs in 2023, may be able to leverage skills from sales and marketing backgrounds, for example, she said.

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