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The bounceback is real, but not everyone’s invited
In 2021, engineers were flooded with job offers. In 2023, they were getting laid off in batches. Now it’s 2025, and the mood has shifted again.
Hiring is back. But it’s cautious, uneven, and far more selective than before. This isn’t a return to the old normal. It’s something else entirely, a leaner, tighter cycle where results matter more than titles and companies care less about where you’ve worked than what you’ve actually done.
Here’s what you need to know.
We’re past the layoffs. Most of the deep cuts happened in 2022 and early 2023. Since then, engineering roles have been trending upward.
But the job count is still well below the peak. Compared to early 2022, total listings are down 40 to 50 percent. And the recovery hasn’t touched all levels equally.
If you’re a senior engineer or an infra specialist, demand is strong. If you’re junior or switching into tech, it’s still tough.
A few big names are driving most of the action:
Amazon is hiring heavily again, mostly to replace engineers who left during its office return push.
Oracle has more open roles than Google. Its cloud business is growing fast, but its job titles tend to be inflated.
ByteDance is out-hiring Meta by a huge margin. Despite legal pressure in the US, it’s expanding engineering across Europe and Asia.
IBM is quietly rebuilding. It’s now hiring more engineers than Microsoft.
SAP continues to grow steadily, backed by strong ERP demand and AI integrations.
Most of these roles are not in Silicon Valley. Hiring is now global. Bangalore, Warsaw, and São Paulo are where the action is.
These companies are still shrinking or stuck
Meta has not returned to its previous headcount.
Spotify has cut around 25 percent of its team since mid-2022.
Twilio is down 27 percent and hasn’t resumed hiring.
Shopify is flat, with no signs of new expansion.
Salesforce is in maintenance mode.
One exception is Apple. It never had mass layoffs and quietly grew by 5 percent since 2022.
If you’re looking for fast growth and high pay, the AI world is where the momentum is.
OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Mistral are the most aggressive recruiters in tech right now.
They hire heavily from Google, Meta, Stripe, Tesla, and Scale AI.
These companies pay well, move fast, and operate with very lean teams. Expect long hours and wide scopes.
Getting in usually requires more than a strong resume. Open-source contributions, published research, or a strong referral network are often the unlock.
Hiring managers aren’t looking to rebuild bloated teams. They want fewer people with more impact.
Senior roles are outpacing mid-level ones in most major companies.
Engineers who can operate independently, mentor others, and handle systems-level thinking are being prioritized.
Entry-level roles are recovering slowly. Internships are fewer. Some new grads are breaking in through contract work or self-funded projects.
One hiring lead at a devtools startup said bluntly: “We’d rather hire one staff-level engineer than three juniors right now.”
Remote is no longer the default. It’s now a perk, and it depends on where you apply.
Still remote-friendly:
AI-first startups
Developer tooling companies
Open-source-focused teams
Hybrid is more common across Big Tech. Office attendance often links to promotion tracks. If you’re applying for remote-only jobs, you’ll likely face global competition and stricter screening.
Recruiters and founders are consistently looking for engineers with strength in:
Machine learning engineering and LLM infrastructure
Cloud platforms, especially GCP and Oracle Cloud
Security, both red-team and platform-level
Data pipelines using streaming and event-based systems
TypeScript, Go, and Rust
Python, still dominant in AI and automation
Full-stack Next.js remains popular for startups. Java continues to hold steady in finance and backend-heavy enterprise systems. If you want a tailored cover letter to highlight your skills, use this ai cover letter generator.
If you’re good, you’ll still get paid well. But the days of 10x RSU refreshers and $100K signing bonuses are mostly gone.
Base salaries are steady across the board
Bonuses are smaller and often tied to strict performance triggers
Equity grants now come with longer cliffs or reduced refresh schedules
Non-comp perks have quietly shrunk
The companies still offering rich comp packages tend to be small, fast-moving, and AI-focused.
2025 is a good time to be a strong engineer. It’s a harder time to be average.
If you’ve been laid off recently, or you’re struggling to break in, don’t take it personally. This market favors people who can prove their impact. That means showing real work—code, systems, contributions, shipped features, not just naming the companies on your resume.
Things are moving again. But they’re moving with more intent, more focus, and far less fluff.
If you’re clear on what you bring to the table, there’s still plenty of opportunity out there.
