Looking ahead to 2026, top job market priorities include skills such as IT security, AI and ML integration, data analytics, governance and compliance, software engineering and development, and AI governance and ethics. However, a large gap still exists between the skills that organizations are looking for and those that candidates have listed on their resumes.
Here we take a look at today’s IT job landscape and how IT recruiting and training strategies are evolving to keep up with the rapidly changing talent market.
Promotion of skill-first recruitment
Over the past year, organizations have made a significant shift toward hiring for skills over experience, education, and background. While these traditional criteria are still valid, IT leaders specifically want to recruit for the skillsets their organizations need or lack. This new focus is also seen as a way to open up the talent pipeline to candidates who may have been excluded in the past.
According to data from Robert Half, 65% of IT leaders found it more difficult to find skilled IT professionals to fill open positions in 2025 than in 2024. This year, 61% said they planned to increase the number of permanent employees in the first half of 2026, and 55% said they planned to increase contract and temporary staffing within the same period.
