Whether artificial intelligence (AI) is already replacing jobs is the subject of fierce debate. Tech layoffs hit their highest single month total in years in May, and AI was the most-cited reason according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

However, researchers at venture firm SignalFire say that engineering roles are actually becoming more resilient thanks to AI. Their analysis of millions of employees across 80 million companies found that while total hiring across large tech companies dropped by 25% compared to 2019 levels, engineering roles saw a much smaller decline of just 11%. In fact, engineers comprised 55% of all new hires in 2025 among the ‘Tech Majors’ - a significant jump from 46% in 2019.

Even at early-stage startups, engineering headcount increased by 7%, while other tech roles saw declines. This suggests that AI is more enhancing than replacing human engineers. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Stanford Graduate School of Business: ‘Software engineers are busier than ever.’ According to him, agents are not just writing code instantly but pushing engineers to generate the next idea.

The continued need for engineering talent challenges the theory that AI will replace jobs en masse. Anthropic’s own head of economics Peter McCrory also noted no significant effects on unemployment rates among workers who use AI for their tasks, suggesting a more symbiotic relationship than replacement.