AI still a hot commodity in a chaotic job market

AI continues to drive the job market, with postings reflecting the impact of the technology.

CompTIA Chief Research Officer Tim Herbert told IT Brew that AI’s effect on hiring shouldn’t be overstated. In a recent survey of 1,200 professionals in the IT space, the trade association found that the technology is being introduced throughout tech organizations—but it’s not always clear if it’s being implemented effectively.

“Companies are experimenting, they’re attempting to move from pilot project to full production, and they’re hitting snags along the way,” Herbert said. “That’s not uncommon; we have seen that with just about every digital transformation technology over the past 10, 20 years.”

Change is coming. As IT Brew has reported, a lack of clarity about AI can do more than cause confusion in the workplace, it can throw up roadblocks for prospective employees. A recent Indeed report found that one-fourth of listings name drop but don’t clarify AI usage within job descriptions, leaving candidates unsure if their skills align with an organization’s needs. But that’s not the main concern for many job seekers, who are worried that more spending on AI will translate into fewer open positions.

“It’s been about really shifting money into investing in AI, not necessarily that AI has completely taken people’s jobs,” Indeed Senior Economist Cory Stahle said. “That’s an important thing, especially for workers, to realize—that AI does some things good, but also it’s not going to be at your desk on Monday morning.”

Jump ball. CompTIA usually releases a monthly jobs overview based on Bureau of Labor and Statistics data, but the government shutdown means the monthly report is currently reliant on Lightcast information on posting numbers.

According to Lightcast, listings with an AI skill requirement and for specialized AI roles continued to rise in October. Postings for software developers and engineers went up by 1,046 and those for network engineers and architects increased by 1,003, part of a 4,956 posting increase from September.

And AI hasn’t eclipsed IT pros’ ability to deliver on time and on budget. Herbert told IT Brew that what was promised by AI may be colliding with a more mundane and costly reality. According to CompTIA’s survey, eight in 10 companies said they had reverted to a human-centered solution when AI didn’t deliver.

“You could see this perception among boards and investors—that if we just throw AI at it, we can reduce our labor market costs—and then not realize the AI actually may be more expensive than the labor itself,” Herbert said. “The economics of this are really interesting and I think we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”