New iCIMS Research Finds AI Driving Demand for High-Paying Tech Jobs Despite Hiring Slowdown

The iCIMS Insights March 2025 Workforce Report reveals high salaries are driving job seekers to open tech jobs while women face challenges in adapting to AI skills  

Holmdel, NJ [March 13, 2025] – iCIMS, a leading provider of talent acquisition technology, today released the iCIMS Insights March 2025 Workforce Report. The report uncovers deeper insights on hiring and application activity for technology-related jobs across all industries and critical trends in AI-driven job demand. With AI innovation accelerating, companies are creating high-paying tech jobs to keep pace. Despite a broader hiring slowdown, tech job seekers aren’t hitting the brakes—it’s all-systems-go as they chase opportunities in this evolving field.

Drawing from proprietary data across thousands of organizations that receive over 223 million applications and hire more than 5.4 million people annually, as well as a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, the report found that the labor market remains uncertain. iCIMS data shows that while overall application volume was the highest seen since the start of last year (up 12% from February 2024), organizations slowed down hiring. Job openings were up just 3% year-over-year, and hires dropped 6% in the same time period.

Key insights on tech jobs: ​

• Tech jobs are hot, but not easy to land. In the face of a freezing effect for white-collar jobs in the labor market, job seekers are undeterred, especially when it comes to tech jobs. Applications for tech roles jumped 28% in one year from February 2024. Openings also rose 11% in the same time period. Hires, however, are still down 3% year-over-year.
• Tech hiring buffers for the right fit. While applications for tech jobs are pouring in, recruiters may still be struggling to find the right fit for open roles. Time-to-fill (TTF) for tech jobs increased from 48 days in February 2024 to 51 days in February 2025.
• Older workers sit on the tech bench. Younger workers aged 18 to 24-year-old comprised 58% of applicants for tech roles and those under 35-years-old represented 78% of applicants.
• Tech is a man’s (and woman’s) world. Applications for tech jobs from men increased 32% year-over-year, and women were just shy, with a 27% increase in the same time period. These surges far outpaced the overall labor market, with applications from men and women across industries increasing just 14% and 10%, respectively.

The impact of AI on job seeker behavior:

• Chasing dollars, not code. More than half (57%) of respondents cited high salaries as the top driver that would attract them to apply for a job in tech. Job stability (37%) and flexibility in work arrangements (37%) fell closely behind.
• Don’t mind the (AI skills) gap. With time-to-fill slowing down for tech jobs, is an AI skills gap to blame? Less than a quarter (21%) of job seekers said they feel adequately prepared to adapt to AI-driven changes in the workplace.
• Boomers swipe left on tech careers. The decline of older tech applicants may be driven by concerns surrounding ageism and AI skills gaps, with 57% of baby boomers saying they are not interested in pursuing a tech career.
• Imposter syndrome is causing a glitch. Despite their surge in applications, 23% of women reported not feeling prepared for AI-driven changes at work and aren’t sure how to adapt to them, compared to 17% of men. Still, 40% of women have no plans to improve their AI-related skills, and only 10% believe that AI literacy is a requirement for landing a job today, compared to 18% of men.

Earlier this month, iCIMS announced it earned TrustArc’s TRUSTe Responsible AI Certification, demonstrating its commitment to building responsible AI that is trustworthy, transparent, explainable and fair across every step of the recruiting and hiring lifecycle. iCIMS is the only enterprise recruiting software provider and one of only a few companies ever to obtain this certification. iCIMS also recently announced the continuation of its responsible AI journey with the introduction of generative AI to iCIMS Digital Assistant as part of its 2025 Winter Release.

Download the iCIMS Insights March Workforce Report for a deeper dive into the latest workforce trends.