The 'Great Hesitation' That's Making It Harder to Get a Tech Job

Employment in technology-based fields across all sectors fell by around 214,000 jobs in April this year

- Katherine Bindley

The uncertain economic climate is adding to tech workers' woes. Those who have jobs are staying put, trying to figure out how they can stay relevant with the pivot to artificial intelligence and continued threat of layoffs. Those job hunting are finding recruiters insisting salary expectations be divulged in the first phone call, job postings pulled at the last minute and bots ruling out their résumés before it lands in front of a human. Companies are prolonging their hiring processes, leveraging contract workers or holding out for candidates who check every single box—and then some.

"It's the great hesitation," says George Denlinger, operational president of U.S. technology talent solutions with staffing firm Robert Half. "The hiring process might be two to three times longer than it was a year ago."

During times of uncertainty, companies are gun-shy: They take their time, fill only critical roles and raise the bar for hiring, Denlinger says. They previously might have required six or seven different skills for a given role but now may want 10 or 12, "and those skills are associated with things that align with AI," he adds.

"There are a lot of jobs, but there are more people looking," says Steve Levine, a 54-year-old on Long Island, N.Y., who was recently laid off. "Lots of things that I've applied for and targeted that I'm very qualified for, I don't get any response."

Levine has applied for around 50 sales-engineering and solutions-consultant jobs since January. He recently made it to the final round with one company and had to deliver a presentation in front of a panel, only to be told the company had decided not to fill the role, citing changing priorities. "It's not you, it's us," he says they told him.