A more specialized market for IT jobs in 2026
With all of the well-publicized layoffs in the tech sector this year, networking professionals can be forgiven for worrying about the status of the job market as we enter the final weeks of 2025.
The reality seems to be a split in the IT job market between job roles on the rise, and those either stagnant in hiring or even on the decline. Not surprisingly, the most secure job areas are those related to artificial intelligence or cybersecurity. For many more traditional roles, the news appears to be a mixed bag.
“The IT market is fundamentally bifurcated right now,” says Kanani Breckenridge, CEO and ‘headhuntress’ at recruiting agency Kismet Search, an executive recruiting firm in San Diego, CA. “High-demand areas like AI, cybersecurity and advanced data analytics continue to see aggressive hiring, while traditional infrastructure, coding and support roles are contracting due to increased automation and cloud adoption. Companies are being much more strategic about where they invest in engineering talent, prioritizing the latest skills related to adopting AI, data pipelines and data modelling.”
The layoffs at major tech companies have created a narrative of industry contraction, but that’s somewhat misleading, Breckenridge explains. Mid-market companies and start-ups are actively hiring much of the talent that large organizations shed. That trend has aided that portion of the IT job market.
While most of the focus has been on AI-related investments and products, there is still an emphasis on applying cutting-edge tech to verticals that are more dated, such as healthcare, construction, supply chain and logistics, and infrastructure.
A mostly flat networking job market
Agreeing with that assessment is Matthew Baden, managing director, tech recruitment, at The Search Experience, a recruitment consultancy in San Francisco focused on building tech teams for early stage technology companies.
“The IT job market heading into 2026 is flat. Most new roles created are offset by a layoff elsewhere. Growth is happening – but it’s uneven and highly role-specific,” Baden explains. “Networking is an area where hiring managers are treading water –again, growth is only being matched by cuts in others.”
Probably the greatest activity in the networking jobs space is the advancement of productivity tools for managing a network, says Don Welch, global CIO and VP for IT at New York University.
“You can do the same with less,” Welch explains. “Also, public 5G networks can meet many requirements. 802.11 is still ubiquitous but the technology is already here for commercial cellular networks to meet some organization’s needs.”
Specialization is key
On the whole, Welch also sees a declining demand for traditional networking pros. This trend is not new, and he sees it impacting a number of jobs in IT.
A significant factor in today’s networking jobs market is the increased use of automation to perform various network-related tasks, explains Michael Tischler, senior recruiter at staffing firm Staffing Technologies. Network automation has become a standard to improve business efficiency at many organizations.
The rapid rise in the adoption of cloud computing, edge computing and AI has also driven a refocus of networking from a data center-focused and hardware-centric discipline to requiring expertise in software-driven and virtualized network environments, Breckenridge explains.
“The IT market is shifting and we can see it from our internal data,” explains Lacey Kaelani, CEO at Metaintro, a job search engine that runs on open source technology. “What’s happening is that companies are cutting down on generalist and entry-level roles, and demanding more hands-on roles such as data engineers, cloud data architects, and analytical translators. These types of roles connect technical skills with business needs, which is ultimately what the entire labor market is shifting to.”
The networking pros still positioned for success
The news is not all gloom and doom for networking professionals. Those that have done well in recent years and are poised for continued career success are the ones that have retooled around cloud and automation, Baden says.
“The market rewards those who can do more with less,” Baden explains. “Cloud adoption is huge. Also, brushing up on your scripting, automation and engineering skills will help you multiply your usefulness.”
Among the best hiring markets for networking pros are financial services and other industries where system uptime is mission critical. Specific job roles that remain in healthy demand are site reliability engineers, systems engineers, cloud engineers and architects.
The average salary for a networking professional in 2025 is $91,390, according to Zip Recruiter.
In terms of the desirability of specific skill sets, wireless is still key, Welch says. Demand for 5G/LTE is growing. “The rest I see as stable, but declining, as engineers get more productive.”
The impact of AI
There is little doubt that artificial intelligence is disrupting the entire IT workforce, and networking won’t be spared.
“AI disruption is coming for networking. It’s not here yet, but within 12 to 18 months it will reshape the field,” Baden says.
That will fuel increased demand for networking pros with a strong understanding of how AI can impact networking challenges. Networking pros should keep up with new tool releases and understand what network management automation tools do, even if they no longer perform those tasks.
“Employers have been cautious with their hiring of late, but there is persistent demand for people who can apply AI to real-world business problems,” explains David Case, president and founder of Advastar, a recruiting firm in the energy, manufacturing and construction sectors. ”Even companies that have intentionally slowed hiring are still filling roles related to specific skills they need to add to their workforce, and strategic application of AI is one of the top areas where we’re still seeing robust demand.”
Quite simply, companies don’t just want administrative support. They want people who can explain what data means, and how it should guide decisions around all business functions, Kaelani says.
How to land on your feet
With declining overall demand for networking pros, it is important that job candidates do all they can to stand out in the crowd. Critical to that is attitude and aptitude, Welch says.
Hiring managers will place priority on how these IT pros “show up for work, how they collaborate, and how willing and able they are to learn,” Welch says. “Keep up with certifications, learn, be a good teammate and be good at serving stakeholders. Soft skills are still important, and will be even more so.”
Finally, networking pros that have experience managing a team of other networking engineers are perhaps the most in-demand of all. Very few networking professionals have all of the current skills sets, certifications, and leadership experience.
