In brief:
- Average IT salaries rose 2% in 2024 and are expected to grow steadily and sustainably in the coming year as the tech talent market improves.
- The tech talent shortage persists: nearly 9 in 10 hiring managers surveyed by Robert Half say it’s challenging to find the talent they need, 3 in 10 say it’s very challenging.
- Skills and tech careers in demand: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, cybersecurity, cloud, software development, data analyst, etc.
- Working with a reputable nearshore IT provider is increasingly emerging as the best solution to overcome the tech talent shortages in the U.S. and avoid shelling out inflated IT salaries.
Following four years of significant fluctuations, 2024 marked a year of growing stability in the tech sector, leading towards gradual but continuous growth. While average salaries for tech jobs rose 2% in 2024 from the previous year, according to Motion Recruitment’s 2025 tech salary report, salaries are expected to grow steadily and sustainably in the coming year, with the job market for tech workers improving for both the IT industry and all tech-related jobs.
In fact, there is a significant tech talent gap developing. Technology industry layoffs from earlier this year haven’t eased staffing challenges, making hiring managers compete for skilled candidates, Robert Half’s 2025 Salary Guide reported. The accelerated adoption of AI and automation technology in the workplace is serving as a catalyst for new roles, while an AI-fueled surge in cyberattacks is creating booming demand for cybersecurity specialists.
The result: nearly 9 in 10 hiring managers (86%) surveyed by Robert Half say it’s challenging to find the talent they need – with 3 in 10 saying it’s very challenging.
Hence, 2025 presents employers with a complex hiring landscape of skills shortages, changing job roles and skill requirements, and pent-up demand at a time when labor pools are tight. Analyzing the latest IT talent statistics and tech salary trends help CIOs think strategically about the future of their IT departments, which today have an outsized influence in shaping strategy for the entire organization.
How will these tech salary trends impact CIOs’ recruiting and retention strategies in 2025? This article answers that question – and offers the best solution for finding the high-quality resources you need to drive innovation, digital transformation, and sustainable growth for your business.
1. The job market for tech workers is improving with the strengthening economy
After the much-publicized layoffs in the tech industry starting 2022, the ripple effects of overhiring during the pandemic have finally slowed. The second half of 2024 showed signs of a strengthening job market in the tech industry as well as tech-related jobs in other industries.
The tech unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% in September, the steepest month-over-month decline in four years, and well below the national unemployment rate of 4.1%, according to data from CompTIA. The tech industry nonprofit attributed the hiring boom to recent economic developments – such as strong consumer spending, high business investment, and lower interest rates – which are giving employers confidence to move forward with meeting their tech talent needs.
Employer job postings are about 57% higher now as compared to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, Motion Recruitment found. The tech industry layoffs didn’t ease staffing challenges as many of those who got laid off were reabsorbed into the workforce within a few months, while a large number started their own ventures. As a result, hiring managers are expected to continue to face tight competition for skilled candidates.
As macroeconomic growth is expected to rebound in 2025, the job market is likely to strengthen further, with gradual pay raises, according to Randstad’s 2025 Salary Guide.
2. Expect to pay more for specialized, in-demand IT jobs
With enterprises focusing on digital transformation and automation to stay ahead of competition, and rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) presenting a plethora of opportunities for driving efficiencies, specialized talent in emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and cloud computing are the most sought after.
As a result, almost half of technology managers surveyed by Robert Half are increasing starting salaries for “hard-to-staff” roles with these specialized skills: AI and machine learning (44%), cybersecurity (37%), cloud computing, security, and architecture (30%), and software and applications development (29%).
Below we explore the most sought-after tech roles for 2025 in detail.
AI and Generative AI roles
AI is reshaping the fabric of technology across sectors and surfacing new opportunities across the board, making AI proficiency widely sought after by tech and IT teams for needs ranging from customer chatbots to predictive maintenance systems. Nearly half (48%) of organizations surveyed by Motion Recruitment said the increased use of AI technology is leading them to add personnel either inside or outside of IT.
The report also found that AI and machine learning tools are contributing to the growth of new roles in the tech industry, rather than eliminating existing ones, as has long been feared.
Out of the current list of highest-paid skills in tech, the report said half are related to AI and machine learning, with Generative AI (GenAI) taking the top spot. It also found job postings related to GenAI skills alone have more than tripled between September 2023 and September 2024.
Even outside AI-specific roles, IT salary increases are significant for those who boast a skill set including these emerging technologies, with some seeing a 50% boost in compensation compared to those who lack AI skills.
Cybersecurity professionals
Rapid cloud adoption, remote workforces, and cybercriminals leveraging GenAI and other advanced AI to launch sophisticated cyberattacks have led to cybercrime emerging as the top business risk confronting enterprises worldwide in 2024. At the same time, there is a large – and rapidly expanding – gap in cyber skills and talent: there is a global shortage of nearly 4 million cyber professionals, according to WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2024 survey.
This gap in cyber resources, skills, and talent is emerging as the biggest challenge for companies in building resistance to cyberattacks, the report states.
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More than 750,000 cybersecurity job vacancies exist in the U.S. alone, with the disparity between demand and supply expected to remain through at least 2025, according to the latest data from Cybersecurity Ventures.
Not surprisingly, cybersecurity resources are commanding some of the highest salary brackets in IT today.
Cloud computing roles
Cloud skills are another critical area with significant technical skills gaps. Cloud Architect ranks as the fourth most in-demand role for 2025 on Pluralsight’s list of best paying tech jobs for the year; it was the second most in-demand tech job in 2024, according to Indeed.com.
Cloud Architect, in fact, is one of the few tech roles that command a six-figure salary across all 50 U.S. states, according to ZipRecruiter. This is not surprising – as adoption of cloud technology accelerates, there is greater demand for experts who can develop, implement, and manage infrastructure across an organization’s cloud components, including hardware, software, and virtual environments.
The cloud skills gap is cited by IT executives as the biggest barrier to further utilization of emerging cloud-based technologies, Motion Recruitment said. The report also highlighted Cloud Engineer as one of the most in-demand tech roles, with five open positions for every one qualified Cloud Engineer.
Other IT jobs in demand
Besides roles in emerging and cutting-edge technologies, many hiring managers cite that a major IT need is maintaining current systems and clients. While the biggest worry that organizations have due to the tech skills shortage is their ability to adopt new technology, the next-biggest concern is maintaining legacy systems, Pluralsight’s 2024 Technical Skills Report found.
Nearly 80% of organizations have abandoned projects partway through because they don’t have employees with the necessary IT skills, the report found. As a result, roles such as software developers and engineers, tech support specialists, and system analysts continue to be in high demand.
Software developer employment in the U.S. was hit by the wave of layoffs starting in 2022, with some industry watchers expecting demand for developers to continue to slow with the growing adoption of AI. Yet, software developers remain central to creating applications and systems across sectors and industries, and the role continues to be one of the tech careers in demand.
Software developer ranked no. 4 on the 2024 U.S. News 100 Best Jobs, which ranks jobs based on pay, stability, future prospects, etc. The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projections expect the number of software developer positions to grow 17% between 2023 and 2033.
Data analysts, data scientists, and data engineers also continue to see booming demand as organizations increasingly recognize the value of data-driven strategies – especially as AI and machine learning become integral to business strategies. Data scientist ranked fourth on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of occupations with the most projected job growth across all industries over the next decade, growing 36% from 2023 to 2033 with about 20,800 openings projected each year.
3. Persistent tech talent shortage, skills gaps threaten to turn into a major business risk
Labor shortages and skills gaps across tech companies and IT teams are snowballing into major risk factors for enterprises. IDC’s 2024 Future Enterprise Resiliency survey found that more than 60% of North American IT leaders blamed skills gaps for missed revenue growth targets, quality issues, and decreased customer satisfaction.
Globally, the shortage of IT skills has resulted in over $5.5 trillion in losses due to product delays, reduced competitiveness, and lost business opportunities.
Hence, for those with in-demand skill sets, it is still a job candidate’s market. Seventy percent of tech workers actively seeking new opportunities receive multiple job offers, according to an Indeed.com survey, indicating tech talent supply is lagging demand.
Demand for tech skills is not limited to the tech industry alone. For the first time in decades, more IT workers were employed by non-tech companies (60%) than by technology firms in North America this year, according to CBRE’s Scoring Tech Talent 2024 report.
Given this intense competition, many organizations are delaying hiring for tech roles, Motion Recruitment found. Yet, enterprises that postpone hiring risk long-term challenges in pursuit of short-term savings. Hence, companies need to improve their employee experience, rethink hiring strategies, and more importantly, find alternative approaches to alleviate the talent gap.
Nearshoring provides a strategic opportunity to address this challenge, with physical proximity ranking as the #1 factor for choosing an IT outsourcing provider in the Computer Economics 2023 IT Outsourcing Statistics report.
Top nearshore locations have invested heavily into becoming technology hubs and developing tech talent. Mexico recently replaced Brazil as the largest market for tech talent in Latin America on the CBRE talent report, which also included Colombia and Costa Rica among the region’s top tech destinations.
Nearshore advantages like cost-effectiveness, real-time collaboration, and a deep pool of highly skilled technical talent help overcome the challenges of Asia-based solutions, including saturated labor markets, faraway time zones, infrastructure challenges, and cultural and language barriers. The 2024 State of the GBS & Outsourcing Industry in Latin America study found satisfaction levels at LATAM shared services organizations (SSOs) are significantly higher (87%) than Asia (53%), Europe (64%), and even North America (69%).
Not surprisingly, IT processes are now performed on a greater scale at LATAM SSOs than other regions (64% vs. 32% globally), the State of Latin America study found. The same holds true for Intelligent Automation functions, performed by 59% of LATAM SSOs vs. 28% globally.
Why Auxis: Overcome tech talent shortages and rising costs
Outsourcing to a reputable nearshore IT provider holds the key to winning the tech talent war – delivering skilled professionals to work with cutting-edge technology and maintain legacy IT operations while enabling your digital transformation agenda.
Auxis helps CIOs strike the optimal balance between business innovation and operational excellence through our IT modernization services. Combining nearly three decades of IT managed services, consultancy, and digital transformation expertise, our turnkey, tech-enabled outsourcing solutions drive efficiency and innovation across the IT function.
Recognized as the Foundational Partner of the Year for the Americas by the leading intelligent automation platform, UiPath, and appearing on the elite IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 annually for nearly a decade, we support our outsourcing services with an exceptional ability to make AI and automation the cornerstone of business innovation and success.
As nearshore outsourcing pioneers, we also deliver a proven ability to combine Latin America’s highly skilled tech talent pool with structured processes, customized solutions, and strong technical partnerships that ensure optimal utilization of IT budgets.
Skills gaps and talent shortages remain a top issue for CIOs in 2025, with 56% of IT hiring managers expecting to relax candidate experience requirements to fill roles, the Robert Half survey found. Understanding the reality of IT salary trends in the U.S. –– and the unique opportunities presented by alternative talent pipelines in Latin America –– can help you determine the best path forward for your organization.
Want to learn more about how our IT nearshoring solutions can benefit your organization? Schedule a consultation with our IT outsourcing experts today! You can also visit our resource center for more IT outsourcing tips, strategies, and success stories.
