Key points:

  • Canadian tech job postings on Indeed plunged after a post-pandemic boom and have been quite weak since mid-2023. As of early August 2025, they were down 19% from their early-2020 levels, though the decline has been somewhat milder than in several other advanced economies, including the US and UK. 
  • The timing of Canada’s plunge mainly correlates with a hangover from the earlier tech boom, rather than the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI). Roughly half of the net decline in tech postings from their peak occurred before ChatGPT became public, and tech postings have evolved similarly to the rest of the economy since mid-2023. However, AI could be a factor in why tech postings haven’t rebounded from their low levels. 
  • The AI revolution is apparent in the types of tech jobs still in demand. Jobs directly related to AI, such as machine learning engineers, as well as roles supporting its infrastructure (such as data engineers and data center technicians), are among the tech job titles with postings still above their early-2020 levels.
  • Postings for senior and manager-level tech jobs have fallen off sharply from their 2022 peak, but as of early 2025 were still up 5% from their pre-pandemic levels. Conversely, standard and junior tech titles were down -25%, highlighting how the job market is particularly tough for early-career professionals. 
  • The number of people working in professional tech and mathematics occupations has plateaued since 2022 but remains quite elevated through mid-2025, highlighting how the hiring freeze has, so far, impacted tech job seekers more than employment itself. However, it’s unclear how long these diverging conditions can persist.

As of mid-2025, the Canadian tech hiring freeze has entered its third year, a sea change from the booming conditions in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. Canadian job postings for tech and mathematics occupations on Indeed — which account for 6% of total postings, covering hundreds of job titles ranging from software engineers, quality assurance analysts, helpdesk technicians, and data scientists — soared in the aftermath of the pandemic, peaking in early 2022 at more than double their February 2020 level. However, as the economic situation turned and central banks began hiking interest rates, the pull-back in demand was just as sharp. Tech postings plunged through the end of 2023 and have remained low since. On August 15, 2025, they stood 19% below their February 2020 level. 

Line chart titled “Canadian tech job postings have gone from boom to bust” shows the trend in Canadian total and tech job postings between February 2020 and July 2025, both series index to equal 100 in February 2020. Tech job postings more than doubled through early 2022, but have fully retreated since, down 19% from their pre-pandemic level as of August 15, 2025. 
Line chart titled “Canadian tech job postings have gone from boom to bust” shows the trend in Canadian total and tech job postings between February 2020 and July 2025, both series index to equal 100 in February 2020. Tech job postings more than doubled through early 2022, but have fully retreated since, down 19% from their pre-pandemic level as of August 15, 2025. 

The drop in tech postings hasn’t been unique to Canada. In fact, Canada’s tech posting decline from its pre-pandemic level has been somewhat milder than large advanced economies like the US (-34%), UK (-41%), France (-38%), and Germany (-29%). The few advanced economies where tech postings remain above early 2020 levels — like Australia, Spain, and Singapore — are countries where overall job postings remain quite elevated. Even so, these countries have also seen tech demand cool from their peaks, suggesting common global factors have been driving these trends, rather than country-specific developments. 

Bar chart titled “Canada’s tech posting decline not as severe as some markets” shows the net change in tech job postings between February 2020 and August 2025 across advanced economies. Tech postings are down more in the US, UK, and France than in Canada, while they remain above early 2020 levels in Australia and Spain. 
Bar chart titled “Canada’s tech posting decline not as severe as some markets” shows the net change in tech job postings between February 2020 and August 2025 across advanced economies. Tech postings are down more in the US, UK, and France than in Canada, while they remain above early 2020 levels in Australia and Spain. 

Timing makes it tough to pinpoint AI’s role in the tech posting decline

Two main explanations have been offered for the crash in demand for tech workers. One is that the sector is experiencing an overhang from its earlier hiring boom, aggravated by less supportive economic conditions (including the end of the “zero interest rate period”), with some resemblance to trends in the broader economy. Swings in total Canadian job postings (and postings in other countries) haven’t been as dramatic as for tech jobs themselves, but have been substantial.

Alternatively, it’s possible that the recent AI revolution has significantly reduced interest in hiring new tech workers. Indeed research has found substantial overlap between the capabilities of existing GenAI tools and many of the skills and tasks listed in tech job descriptions, meaning automation of some of the tasks performed in these roles could be driving their drop in job postings. 

The challenge in identifying the impact of AI is that tech job postings were already plunging before the dawn of the new AI age. In fact, roughly half of the net decline in Canadian tech postings between their peak and August 2025 occurred before the public release of ChatGPT in late 2022. The rapid decline then continued through the first half of 2023, as use of GenAI was still in its infancy. Given the downward trend was already well underway, it’s tough to gauge whether these brand-new tools immediately impacted hiring appetite.

Another possibility is that the drag of AI on tech job postings has been more gradual and ongoing, which could cause tech job postings to increasingly lag other occupations over time. However, while tech postings have eased further since mid-2023, so too have economy-wide job postings, including among occupations with relatively low near-term GenAI replacement risk (such as food services, manufacturing, and nursing). As a result, the ratio of tech postings relative to postings for low-AI exposure jobs has held steady since mid-2023. 

Line chart titled “Tech postings have evolved similarly to others since 2023” shows the ratio of Canadian tech postings to overall postings, as well as postings of non-AI exposed occupations, between February 2020 and August 2025, both series index to equal 100 in February 2020. Tech postings plunged relative to other sectors between 2022 and mid-2023, but the ratio has held steady since. 
Line chart titled “Tech postings have evolved similarly to others since 2023” shows the ratio of Canadian tech postings to overall postings, as well as postings of non-AI exposed occupations, between February 2020 and August 2025, both series index to equal 100 in February 2020. Tech postings plunged relative to other sectors between 2022 and mid-2023, but the ratio has held steady since. 

On the surface, similar recent trends in tech and non-tech postings suggest macroeconomic developments remain a key driver of posting trends for both categories of workers, consistent with the overhang theory of the tech plunge. However, this doesn’t mean the rise of GenAI hasn’t had an impact. Tech postings might have rebounded relative to the rest of the economy were it not for GenAI’s automation potential. Even if the new technology wasn’t the cause of their initial decline, it could be preventing a bounce-back.

Postings for many tech job titles, including several AI-related roles, are still up compared to early 2020

While tech postings are down substantially overall, job ads for many individual tech titles still exceed their pre-pandemic levels. Of the 135 tech titles with at least 100 postings in early 2025, 56 (41%) still exceeded their early 2020 level, despite near universal declines from the market peak in early 2022. However, many of the largest tech job titles posted declines, including a 51% plunge in postings for software engineers, the most common tech job title. Several specialized developer roles like web, .NET, and front-end developers, often found in the middle of the tech wage-spectrum (based on posted salaries in 2024), fell by even more, similar to trends over the same period in the US. 

Scatter plot titled “Software engineers have led the posting decline, data and machine learning engineers remain elevated” shows the 2024 median posted salary on the x-axis, and log-change between early 2020 and early 2025 in tech job postings on the y-axis, with different-sized points representing tech job titles. Job titles with median salaries between $100,000 and $150,000 generally fell more than tech titles paying more, some of which are AI-related tech jobs. 
Scatter plot titled “Software engineers have led the posting decline, data and machine learning engineers remain elevated” shows the 2024 median posted salary on the x-axis, and log-change between early 2020 and early 2025 in tech job postings on the y-axis, with different-sized points representing tech job titles. Job titles with median salaries between $100,000 and $150,000 generally fell more than tech titles paying more, some of which are AI-related tech jobs. 

At the other end, several of the occupations faring best compared to early 2020 have been AI-related tech jobs. Postings for machine learning engineers — the quintessential AI role — have fallen from their early 2022 peak (-49%), but by far less than other tech jobs, and remain up 38% from early 2020. Other roles, such as AI developers and architects, job titles that were previously rare, have done even better: Both have more than doubled from their early 2020 levels. Meanwhile, demand is also elevated for roles supporting the infrastructure for AI, such as data and platform engineers, as well as data center technicians. Strong demand for AI-related titles is also often reflected in their pay: In 2024, median posted annual salaries for machine learning engineers stood at $213,000, one of the highest of common Canadian tech jobs. 

Demand for senior-level job tech workers faring stronger than their standard counterparts

Beyond just AI-related roles, postings for several other higher-paying Canadian tech job titles have held above their early 2020 levels. One driver of this pattern is that when grouping tech jobs between those with job titles featuring terms conveying seniority (like “senior,” “lead,” or “principal”) or positions in management, and those that don’t, job postings for senior roles have held up better than others. 

In February 2025, tech job postings for senior (and other higher-level) job titles were still up 5% from five years earlier, while standard (and junior) job titles were down 25%. The largest contributor to this gap was from the different trends between junior/standard-level vs. senior-level software engineers, as postings for the latter were roughly unchanged from early 2020, while the former plunged. This contrast was common: When compared to early 2020, job postings for more senior-level tech titles fared better than their standard counterparts for over 80% of title-pairs with sufficient data.

Line chart titled “Postings for senior tech roles are faring better than others” shows February job postings for senior/manager and standard/junior tech job titles between February 2020 and February 2025, both indexed to equal 100 in 2020. In 2025, senior/manager tech titles were near their 2020 level because they rose more than standard/junior roles during the boom through 2022.
Line chart titled “Postings for senior tech roles are faring better than others” shows February job postings for senior/manager and standard/junior tech job titles between February 2020 and February 2025, both indexed to equal 100 in 2020. In 2025, senior/manager tech titles were near their 2020 level because they rose more than standard/junior roles during the boom through 2022.

The contrast in strength between senior and non-senior tech titles isn’t a recent trend. In fact, the two categories of postings have plunged similarly since 2022, highlighting how the market has cooled across the board. However, senior-level and managerial opportunities grew faster during the earlier boom. That gap has persisted, leaving more-experienced tech job seekers in a somewhat better position than newer entrants. 

Tech employment is still elevated despite hiring freeze

Hiring appetite for new workers might have plunged, but the number of people working in professional applied science occupations (i.e., tech and mathematics roles, not including engineering) remains quite elevated, according to the Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. While employment in these occupations has been flat between mid-2022 and 2025, growth over the prior three years was so rapid that it remains up 35% from its 2019 level, far outpacing the 10% economy-wide growth over the same period. Payroll data of tech industries from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours shows a similar recent plateau after earlier explosive growth.  

Line chart titled “Tech employment still well above earlier levels” shows net employment growth in professional occupations in applied sciences (except engineering) and total employment between 2018 and 2025, relative to 2019 levels. Jobs in professional tech and mathematics occupations have been flat since 2022, but in 2025 were still up 35% from 2019 levels, far outpacing the 10% growth in overall employment. 
Line chart titled “Tech employment still well above earlier levels” shows net employment growth in professional occupations in applied sciences (except engineering) and total employment between 2018 and 2025, relative to 2019 levels. Jobs in professional tech and mathematics occupations have been flat since 2022, but in 2025 were still up 35% from 2019 levels, far outpacing the 10% growth in overall employment. 

Conclusion

Relatively steady employment in professional tech and mathematics employment amid the plunge in job postings highlights the diverging conditions facing tech job seekers and tech workers. The share of the Canadian workforce employed in these roles is elevated, while pay remains solid. However, the situation is bleaker for those looking to enter the field, and opportunities for tech workers to change jobs have shrunk, which, along with senior-level postings holding up better, has hit the prospects of early-career professionals.

At some point, conditions facing tech job seekers and workers will likely re-converge, but in what direction? That will depend on the combination of forces behind the current depressed state of tech hiring appetite, which itself is difficult to pinpoint. A substantial fraction of the initial plunge in tech postings was likely related to the boom-bust nature of the cycle, and recent flat GDP levels in information technology services suggest these forces have persisted. However, to the extent AI-related automation is weighing on tech postings more recently, then employment in the field could shift from its recent plateau to declines. 

Methodology 

For the purposes of this post, job postings for tech and mathematics occupations refer to job titles classified as one of the following occupational categories according to Indeed’s taxonomy structure: software development, information design and technology, IT operations and help desk, and mathematics. These categories include many management positions, but might miss some tech-related job titles that are classified under the “management” occupational category. 

Occupational categories included in as “lower GenAI exposure” jobs include: Physicians & surgeons, childcare, cleaning & sanitation, installation & maintenance, nursing, construction, personal care & home health, driving, production & manufacturing, food preparation & service, and beauty & wellness, based on the findings of earlier Indeed research. 

Time series data in this post is presented as 7-day moving averages, seasonally adjusted, while cross-sectional data is not seasonally adjusted. 

The number of job postings on Indeed, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.