Nowadays, when you post an IT related job, you are more likely to get more and better candidates than you would have for several years prior. But for critical, high-demand roles, talent remains tight. Everyone is looking for very similar skills in the people they would like to bring on board. The net result, there are just not yet enough software developers in the world. The industry is creating more jobs than the market is supplying and this will continue to present challenges for tech leaders worldwide.
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Contact Us Today!Today’s hardest tech roles to hire for reflect the rapidly changing nature of enterprise IT. The pressure to digitally transform coupled by the accelerating interest in GenAI has pushed artificial intelligence atop the list of hardest tech roles to hire for in 2025, followed by cybersecurity in No. 2 and data science/analytics in No. 3.
Truly skilled technologists in these areas are limited, and those who can really deliver what businesses require are coming from an even smaller pool.
To provide further insights, we present the top 5 tech roles that IT recruiters commonly find hardest to fill. Additionally, we offer some valuable tips to enhance your hiring strategies and up your hiring game.
#1: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In 2025, AI and ML roles remain among the most challenging for employers to fill. These roles typically require advanced mathematics and programming skills, making it difficult to find suitable candidates, even for entry-level positions.
Despite an increasing number of IT professionals pursuing AI and ML courses, the demand for skilled candidates continues to surpass the available supply. Candidates trained in large language models (LLMs) are getting million-dollar compensation packages, according to the Wall Street Journal, with some companies poaching entire engineering teams to onboard AI talent en masse.
Jobs in this area include:
- AI/Machine Learning Enterprise Architect
- Machine Learning Engineer: RPA, Python, TensorFlow
- Head of RPA program delivery
- Business Development Manager – RPA + Intelligent Automation
Hiring AI/ML Developers? Check out this post on How to Hire Nearshore AI Engineers from LATAM
#2 Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity roles rank second on the list of hardest tech roles to hire for. As cloud computing and digital interconnectedness become more prevalent, the frequency of security threats also increases.
From ransomware attacks and data breaches to attacks driven by AI, cybersecurity technologies and vulnerabilities look much different than they did in the past. Companies must continue to invest as bad actors become more creative. More and more, we are seeing bad actors leveraging AI-like deep fake technology to scam users or employees.
Authorities have responded by implementing regulations that require companies to meet specific security standards for safeguarding customer data. This has resulted in a surge in demand for cybersecurity professionals who can effectively prevent data breaches and adapt to evolving security threats.
With cybersecurity talent scarce, many IT leaders are investing in technology as a force multiplier. Cybersecurity, while critical, is an area that you can get good tools for now as long as you are willing to empty our wallet.
Jobs in this area include:
- Information Security Engineer
- Network Security Engineer
- Security Operations Engineer
- IT Security Engineer
- Application Security Engineer
- Cloud Security Engineer
- Incident Response Engineer
- Security Systems Engineer
- Vulnerability Management Engineer
#3 Data Analytics
As data and its application become much more critical in how people make decisions, data analytics now presents the third biggest hiring challenge—particularly data miners. These are IT professionals who can analyze data, uncover patterns, develop predictive algorithms, and present actionable insights to drive informed business decisions.
To excel in data science roles, professionals typically need a master’s degree and proficiency in advanced mathematics, statistics, and computer science. Additionally, familiarity with various machine learning techniques is highly desirable. The combination of these specialized skills means that data analysts are not easy people to find. Moreover, considering the vast amount of data that modern companies handle, the demand for skilled data scientists remains incredibly high.
To address the skills gap, companies have had the best results training process-minded business professionals from finance, supply chain management, or HR in the use of data analytics tools. With proper training and the completion of IT-certified upskilling courses, these in-house professionals can help fill in the gaps that tech decision-makers are struggling to hire for in this field.
Jobs in this area include:
- Data Analyst
- Data Science and Analytics Director
- Data Engineer
- Business Intelligence (BI) Developer
- Senior/Lead Data Scientist
- Data Analyst – Marketing/Retention
- Senior Strategic Consultant – Data Science and Analytics
#4 Legacy Technology Engineers and Enterprise Architects
As companies seek to modernize and support day-to-day operations, demand for legacy IT skills and enterprise architects remains robust. Legacy technology that usually powers enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM, and supply chain management systems form the backbone of global business operations. These systems handle mission-critical processes—from payroll to inventory management—making immediate replacement impractical. For example, over $3 trillion in daily transactions still rely on COBOL code, powering systems at banks like JPMorgan Chase and the U.S. Federal Reserve. These systems date back to the 1980s.
According to a 2023 Gartner report, 72% of enterprises still rely on legacy applications for over 50% of their workflows. For those IT leaders looking to modernize these systems, it takes a long time to upgrade or migrate to cloud-native architectures, requiring meticulous planning to avoid operational disruption. Until cloud migration or re-architecting is complete, expertise in languages like COBOL, MUMPS, Pascal, Fortran, C++, and RPG remains indispensable.
IT leaders now face pressures: maintaining legacy infrastructure as a critical challenge looms: the rapid decline of professionals skilled in legacy programming languages. These experts, often nearing retirement, hold irreplaceable knowledge of systems that still power global infrastructure—from banking and healthcare to aviation and government.
Jobs in this area include:
- Software Engineer proficient in COBOL, MUMPS, Fortran, .NET, C++, or Pascal
- Test Automation Engineer
#5 DevOps Engineers
DevOps and agile skills are also proving more difficult to come by of late. While DevOps has been around since 2007, its recent surge in popularity has created a high demand for professionals trained and experienced in this field. The adoption of DevOps practices in IT departments has revolutionized the software development process, aiming to enhance speed and code quality. DevOps involves integrating and automating workflows between software developers and IT operations.
DevOps engineers collaborate with developers and operations staff to optimize system performance. They possess strong coding and scripting skills, coupled with a deep understanding of DevOps principles. Such experience, however, can be built. As organizations and teams learn about and use DevOps and Agile, more people will gain experience and the problem will resolve itself, but that will take some time
Jobs in this area include:
- DevSecOps Engineers
- Security Architect
- Application Security Engineer (DevSecOps)
- Security Architect DevOps, Software, SOC, IAM, Cloud, Retail
Conquer Hard-to-fill Tech Roles: Approaches that work
For CIOs challenged to fill these roles, here are some best practices and advice.
With AI, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, DevOps, and Legacy Tech talent in short supply,
Partner with contractors. For now, many CIOs are looking to third parties for help. Companies are using consultants and looking for off-the-shelf systems because for the most, AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics are still just a nascent part of their business, so until they have successful use cases, it doesn’t make sense to hire a bunch of full-time employees in that area. For now, IT leaders are relying heavily on contractors to secure the talent they need.
Embrace on-the-job training. We are now going through times of incredible change throughout the workplace. Technology is ever-evolving, new jobs are forming, and leaders are worried about their teams being left behind. That’s why, now more than ever, the on-job-training approach works for existing employees and new recruits. Enlist strategic partners to lead development programs to ensure employees have access to the latest industry skills. You can also engage your team on projects to give them real-world experience on real use cases from the business to expand your resource pool.
Go to the source. You can also build relationships with technical training providers, including colleges, certification programs, and bootcamps. Forster partnerships that offer internships, apprenticeships, mentorship, job shadowing, and the like. If you can place yourself in their pipeline, you can get an early look at the best talent. Building a pipeline of junior engineers is a sound long-term strategy since it is more challenging to attract and hire senior engineers and engineering leads. Even when the efforts don’t result in a hire, you’re still contributing to the community and they always remember what you did for them and word spreads out fast that you are a great place to work.
Nearshore outsourcing. At Next Idea Tech we specialize in helping companies find tech talent in fields where recruitment can be difficult. With access to an extensive pool of over 10,000 pre-vetted tech professionals from Latin America, you can find the right candidates for your organization.
Book a consultation to learn more about our streamlined recruitment and vetting process. Let us help you overcome the talent gap and build a strong tech team.
