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 SearchOpens a new window , 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 ExperienceOpens a new window , 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 UniversityOpens a new window .

“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.”

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