AI/ML hiring remains the strongest specialist growth signal.

The 31% AI/ML growth rate is notable because it is running well ahead of broader IT and software-services hiring. It points to a market where specialist AI capability is attracting disproportionate demand.

For hiring teams, the harder question is not whether AI skills are in demand. It is whether a candidate can demonstrate production work, engineering depth and the ability to solve real business problems with AI.

That makes role definition and technical assessment more important than simply increasing the number of applications.