---
title: "US Software Job Postings Rose Almost 15% | Metaintro"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/software-job-postings-up-15-percent-71-percent-senior-roles"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-10-12T15:50:07.000Z"
modified: "2026-10-13T06:15:29.565Z"
---

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# US Software Job Postings Rose Almost 15%, and Senior Roles Took 71% of the Gain in the Year to May 2026

US software job postings rose almost 15% from late February 2025 in July 2026 data, and senior roles took 71% of the May 2025 to May 2026 increase. See why.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[October 12, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/10)13 min read

![Three software engineers in casual clothes seen from behind reviewing code together on a large monitor](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/final-10524.jpg)

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US software development job postings [have grown by almost 15% since the launch of Claude Code in late February, 2025, while overall job postings fell by 7%](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), but the gains are not shared evenly. [71% of the increase in software development job postings between May 2025 and May 2026 is from senior roles](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and [37% is due to jobs that mention AI in their title](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/). Those figures come from [a job postings analysis dated July 8, 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), which [a CNBC report brought back into the news](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html) in October, so the core numbers run through May and June 2026, not October 2026. For [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) readers who are early in a coding career, this guide sets those postings figures next to the newest daily index, government pay and outlook data, and the skills [GitHub's career advice](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/) points to.

## What Do the Software Job Posting Numbers Actually Show?

The headline figure counts postings, not hires, and since February 2025, [the number of job postings for software developers in the US has risen almost 15%, while job postings overall have declined by 7%](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/). That is a reversal, because [job postings for occupations with more potential exposure to AI-driven change, including software development, generally fell the most between 2022 and 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

The more recent period tells the opposite story. Between May 2025 and May 2026, [the most AI-exposed occupations have generally seen the largest rebound in postings](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and the pattern is [true not just for software development, but also other AI-exposed occupations](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

[With the exception of Germany and France, the share of all job postings that are software development jobs has been on the rise in most large, developed economies analyzed](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and English-speaking countries [seem to have more consistent positive trends](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

## How Far Below Pre-Pandemic Levels Are Software Postings Now?

[The rebound has a low starting point](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), since through June 2026 [software development job postings remain about 27.5% below their pre-pandemic level, while overall job postings are essentially the same as in February 2020](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

The same postings data also appears as [a daily software development job-postings index published on FRED](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE), the St. Louis Fed's data site, where the [index is set at 100 on February 1, 2020 and seasonally adjusted](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE). Its latest reading was [78.33 for 2026-10-02](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE), up from [78.09 on 2026-09-28](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE).

At the end of June, [the same index read 73.45 on 2026-06-30](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE), so the early October reading is higher than the June one, though both sit under the [February 2020 baseline of 100](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE).

## How Concentrated Was the Rebound in Senior Roles?

[71% of the increase in Software Development job postings between May 2025 and May 2026 came from senior roles, and 37% came from jobs that mention AI in their title](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/). Those two groups are not separate buckets, since the chart behind them shows [senior roles account for 71% of the net increase](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/) and AI-related titles for 37%, with the two categories overlapping. The two headline figures cover different windows, since the [almost 15% rise is measured from the launch of Claude Code in late February, 2025](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), while the [71% senior share covers the increase between May 2025 and May 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

[This preliminary evidence is in line with previous research focused on the disproportionate impact of AI on entry-level jobs](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and even with the rebound, [the job market could still be experiencing a seniority-biased technological change](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), the July analysis concluded.

> This suggests demand is growing for experienced professionals who can work with AI, not necessarily a broad-based recovery across all software roles, according to [the July job postings analysis](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

## Did AI Coding Tools Cause the Rebound?

That link is not proven, since [correlation does not imply causation](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and Claude Code and other agentic AI tools arriving at about the same time as the rebound is [a coincidence that cannot be ignored](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/). [There were, of course, many other factors influencing the market both then and now](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

The longer history matters too. [The earlier decline in the software developer field was not solely an AI story](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), according to McKinsey Global Institute research [cited by CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), and [the rebound comes after a steep drop from a 2022 hiring peak, when technology companies pulled back after a pandemic-era surge in hiring](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html). Other researchers have argued that [the declines in vacancies for AI-exposed occupations began before late 2022](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

[One in three pull requests on GitHub now involves an AI agent](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/secret-protection-must-scale-with-software/), GitHub said in a post dated October 7, 2026, and [a year ago, that number was fewer than one in 10](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/secret-protection-must-scale-with-software/). [If that pace holds, most of the code pushed to GitHub could be written by an agent within the next two years](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/secret-protection-must-scale-with-software/), GitHub wrote.

## What Is Happening to Developers Aged 22 to 25?

[Employment for software developers ages 22 to 25 has fallen nearly 20% from 2024](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), in the [2026 AI Index economy chapter from Stanford HAI](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy). [AI's labor market effects are showing up unevenly, concentrated in hiring pipelines and the youngest workers in exposed occupations](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy).

[One-third of organizations expect AI to reduce their workforce in the coming year](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), and [anticipated reductions are highest in service operations, supply chain, and software engineering](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy). At the same time, [almost half of organizations surveyed expected little to no change](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), and large-scale job losses [have not yet shown up in overall employment data](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy).

On productivity, [studies report gains of 14% to 15% in customer support, 26% in software development, and 50% in marketing output](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), and [recent evidence raises concerns that heavy AI reliance may carry long-term learning penalties that slow skill development over time](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy).

[ADP payroll data on millions of U.S. workers through June 2026](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/) shows [no evidence of widespread, economy-wide job displacement](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/), in a [Stanford Digital Economy Lab](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/) working paper revised on August 12, 2026. Young workers are the exception, and [employment of young workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations now stands 19% below where it would be had it kept pace with that of their less-exposed peers](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/), and [experienced workers show no comparable gap](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/).

The gap [operates primarily through reduced hiring of young workers rather than increased separations](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/). Declines are [concentrated in occupations where AI usage primarily substitutes for human tasks](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/), while [where usage primarily complements workers, employment is flat or rising, especially for experienced workers](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/). The gap also [persists when excluding technology firms and computer occupations](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/), though [the patterns attenuate when controlling for education and show some divergent trends predating generative AI](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/), and the authors describe their results as [early, descriptive indicators](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/) rather than causal estimates.

## Is AI Exposure Raising or Lowering Advertised Pay?

[Since 2021, advertised pay in the most AI-exposed occupations has climbed by about 46% (versus 25% in the least-exposed)](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/), in [a separate analysis of US salaried postings dated September 17, 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). High-exposure work in that study [includes software development, IT support, data and analytics, marketing, and finance](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/).

[The pay premium appears to widen with seniority, large for senior roles, moderate at mid-level, and negligible at entry level](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). At the senior level, [more-exposed pay grew 45% from its 2021 level by mid-2026, compared with 28% for less-exposed pay, a gap of about 17 points](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/), while [at the entry level, there is only a modest 2-point gap](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). That seniority split is treated as suggestive, because [the regression terms behind it are mostly not statistically significant](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). [Measured against a 2022 baseline instead, the gap is far more even across levels, roughly 5 points at entry, 6 at mid, and 7 at senior](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/).

The posting mix shifted too. [In the most-exposed occupations, the entry-level share of postings fell from 29% to 10% between 2021 and 2026, while the senior share rose from 22% to 47%](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). Because the pay figures come from posted jobs, [some of the rise reflects a shift toward fewer, more senior postings, and that shift is larger in more AI-exposed work](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/). That study counts only postings advertising an annual salary, which [skew considerably more senior](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/) than all US postings.

## What Does Government Data Say About Developer Jobs and Pay?

[Software developers held about 1.7 million jobs in 2025](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), in the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm). [The median annual wage for software developers was $135,980 in May 2025](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), and [the lowest 10 percent earned less than $82,460, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $214,670](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm).

[Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 10 percent from 2025 to 2035](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), and [about 106,100 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected each year, on average, over the decade](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm). Many of those openings [are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm). That is a projection, not a count of open jobs.

The entry route is spelled out. Workers in the group [typically need a bachelor's degree in computer and information technology or a related field, such as engineering or mathematics](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), and [students may gain experience in software development by completing an internship, such as at a software company, while in college](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm). [For some software developer positions, employers may prefer that applicants have a master's degree](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm).

> Today's entry-level talent becomes tomorrow's senior experts, economist Sneha Puri said, according to [the CNBC report](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html).

## Which Skills Do an Economist, GitHub and Federal Data Point Developers Toward?

Even if AI can handle some technical coding tasks, companies [still need developers to oversee that work, refine products and help clients integrate the technology into their day to day operations](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), Puri said. For students, ["being able to use AI in your work and improve your efficiency is a great place to start"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), but ["communication, interpersonal skills and leadership are also really important"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), in Puri's words.

Developers [increasingly need to know how to direct AI, evaluate its output, communicate tradeoffs, and make sound technical decisions](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/), in GitHub career advice dated October 2, 2026, which gives three tips:

- [Learn to direct AI, not just use it](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/), which means defining the problem, giving context, reviewing AI-generated code and deciding what is ready to ship.
- [Don't trust AI's first answer](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/), and the post suggests asking a second model to critique the first, then judging both yourself.
- [Use AI to solve bigger problems](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/), such as understanding customer needs, weighing tradeoffs and designing better systems.

Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers [must be able to give clear instructions and explain problems that arise to other team members involved in development](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm), and they [must be able to work well with others who contribute to designing, programming, and testing successful software](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm). Throughout their career, developers [must keep up to date on new tools and computer languages](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm).

## What Are Employers Being Advised to Do?

Employers [also have a role to play in preserving routes into the field](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), Puri said. ["If employers don't build those pipelines now, they're not going to have senior talent they need 10 years down the line"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html), she said.

[The takeaway for employers is to keep pay benchmarks up to date in AI-adjacent industries such as tech, marketing, and finance](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/), in the September pay analysis, and [since AI skills appear to command a premium, highlighting them in job postings could be a useful attraction lever](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/).

## What This Means for Junior Developers, and What Should You Do Next?

Postings have [risen almost 15% since the launch of Claude Code in late February, 2025](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), yet the newest index reading of [78.33](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE) is still under its February 2020 base, and the entry-level share of salaried postings in the most AI-exposed fields [fell from 29% to 10% between 2021 and 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/).

- **Read titles for AI.** Jobs with AI in the title accounted for [37% of the May 2025 to May 2026 increase](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), a group that [overlaps with senior roles](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), so search those titles too, not just generic developer roles.
- **Show you can review, not just write.** [Trust AI enough to use it but not enough to skip review](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/ai-is-rewriting-the-developer-career-ladder-heres-how-to-stand-out/), in GitHub's words. Put a project in your portfolio where you checked and fixed AI output, and explain the fix.
- **Build the people skills.** [Communication, interpersonal skills and leadership](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/11/ai-software-developer-jobs.html) came up in Puri's advice, and the federal handbook lists [communication skills](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm) among the qualities developers need.
- **Get real experience early.** [Students may gain experience in software development by completing an internship, such as at a software company, while in college](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm).
- **Do not lean on AI while you learn.** [Recent evidence raises concerns that heavy AI reliance may carry long-term learning penalties](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), so practise the fundamentals yourself.
- **Check pay against the median.** Know the [May 2025 median of $135,980](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm) for developers and the [lowest 10 percent mark of $82,460](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm) when you weigh an offer, and compare with our look at [the highest-paying software jobs](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/highest-paying-software-jobs) and our guide to [junior software developer salary in 2026](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/software-developer-junior-salary).

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- [AI Threatens Entry Level Job Pipeline](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/ai-threatens-entry-level-job-pipeline)

## People Also Asked

### Q: Are software developer job postings back to pre-pandemic levels?

A: No. Through June 2026 they were [about 27.5% below their pre-pandemic level](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and the daily index read [78.33 for 2026-10-02](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE) against a February 2020 base of 100.

### Q: Who is getting most of the new software developer postings?

A: Senior roles accounted for [71% of the increase in software development job postings between May 2025 and May 2026](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/), and job titles that mention AI accounted for 37% of the increase, [with the two groups overlapping](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-and-job-postings-from-destruction-to-creation/).

### Q: Is AI hurting young software developers?

A: Employment for software developers ages 22 to 25 [has fallen nearly 20% from 2024](https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy), and the advertised pay premium in AI-exposed jobs [appears negligible at entry level](https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/09/17/ai-exposure-isnt-squeezing-advertised-pay-in-the-us-its-boosting-it/), though the Stanford Digital Economy Lab describes its own findings as [early, descriptive indicators rather than causal estimates](https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine/).

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