Tech Job Market 2026: Surprising Trends 🤔

Layoffs keep making headlines. Entry-level roles are disappearing. And yet, companies are still hiring aggressively for AI, cloud, and specialized tech roles.

So what’s actually happening?

Using real hiring data, layoff reports, and industry research, I break down the true state of the tech job market in 2026 who’s getting hit the hardest, which roles are still growing, and what’s actually working for people landing jobs right now.

If you’re a student, new grad, or early-career engineer wondering whether tech is still worth it, this video will give you clarity instead of hype.

🚀 What you’ll learn
✅ Why layoffs and skill shortages exist at the same time
✅ Why entry-level tech hiring collapsed (and who’s affected most)
✅ How AI is changing hiring, not just productivity
✅ Which tech roles are growing vs disappearing
✅ Why generalists are losing and specialists are winning
✅ Skills companies are actually hiring for in 2026
✅ How to position yourself to get hired in a “low hire, low fire” market
✅ Practical strategies that are working right now

⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 Job Market in 2026
1:03 Tech Hiring Data (2026)
3:13 How We Got Here
5:55 Who’s Hit Hardest
7:15 What’s Working Now
9:20 Final advice

about me
I’m Maddy, a senior software engineer (prev. at Google), with prior internships at Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, IBM, and Amazon. Sharing my journey here - thanks for watching 🤍

🔗find me on other socials
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/madeline.m.zhang/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinemzhang/
Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@madeline.m.zhang

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*disclaimer: views are all my own and do not represent any current / past employer(s)

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