What I’m seeing across the market right now

Hiring is not “up or down” overall—it’s moving. Some teams are freezing headcount while others quietly expand (often under different budget lines like “automation,” “risk,” or “platform efficiency”). If you’ve been applying broadly and hearing little back, it may be a targeting problem, not a qualifications problem.

4 hiring shifts you can use to your advantage

1) Efficiency roles are winning (even in growth companies)

Across big tech and startups, leaders are prioritizing:

• AI-enabled productivity (workflow automation, internal tooling, LLM integrations)
• Cost optimization (FinOps, cloud efficiency, vendor rationalization)
• Revenue protection (trust & safety, fraud, risk, compliance)

Interview tip: prepare one story that shows you can deliver outcomes with constraints—time, budget, headcount.

2) “Hybrid specialists” are beating pure generalists

Teams want people who can do depth + cross-functional execution, like:

• Data + domain (e.g., analytics in healthcare ops)
• Product + technical fluency (e.g., APIs, experimentation, instrumentation)
• Security + engineering or security + compliance

Actionable move: rewrite your resume headline to match the hybrid demand:

• “Product Analyst (Experimentation + SQL + Stakeholder Leadership)”
• “Software Engineer (Cloud Cost + Platform Reliability)”

3) Hiring is happening—but often via backchannels

Many roles fill through:

• Internal referrals
• “Pipeline” interviews (roles opening next quarter)
• Contractors-to-FTE conversions

Practical strategy: message 5–8 people in your target function with a specific prompt:

• “What skills are most valuable on your team this quarter?”
• “Which projects are currently understaffed?”

4) Interview processes are getting more signal-heavy

Companies are reducing “nice conversations” and increasing:

• Work samples / case studies
• Role-play scenarios (stakeholder conflict, prioritization)
• Deeper behavioral probing around impact metrics

Prep framework: for every major project, write:

• Goal → Constraints → Your actions → Measurable outcome → Tradeoffs

Quick self-check: are you aligned with the market?

Use this checklist before your next application sprint:

• Does my resume show business impact (numbers, deltas, outcomes)?
• Can I explain my work in two versions: executive + technical?
• Do I have 2–3 stories about ambiguity, prioritization, and influence?
• Am I applying to roles that match what companies are buying: efficiency, risk reduction, platform leverage?

Your turn

Which shift are you seeing most in your industry—efficiency hires, hybrid roles, or more intense interviews—and what role(s) are you targeting right now?