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AI May Be Changing Tech Hiring, But Engineers Are Still Winning

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

June 25, 2026

Whether artificial intelligence is already replacing jobs remains one of the most fiercely contested questions in the tech economy. The answer, at least for software engineers, appears to be more complicated than many layoffs headlines suggest.

Layoffs May Cite AI, But Hiring Tells Another Story

Tech layoffs reached their highest single-month total in years in May, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, and AI was the most frequently cited reason. That has fueled the argument that automation is already displacing white-collar workers at scale.

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Yet researchers at venture firm SignalFire say the hiring data points in a different direction.

“The rationale given for lots of layoffs is consistently AI, and specifically they’ll say AI with respect to code; they’ll say one engineer could do the job of however many engineers in the past,” said Asher Bantock, SignalFire’s head of research. “What we’re seeing on the ground is a little inconsistent with that.”

Engineering Has Proved More Resilient Than Expected

SignalFire’s analysis, which tracks the careers of millions of employees across more than 80 million companies, suggests engineering was the most resilient job function in 2025. Rather than relying on layoffs data, which can be distorted because workers often delay updating their employment status after a job cut, the firm used hiring trends as a more accurate measure of real-time labor demand.

According to SignalFire’s latest State of Talent Report, total hiring across large tech companies fell 25% from 2019 levels. Engineering hiring declined far less, down just 11% over the same period.

The trend was even more striking among the 12 companies SignalFire classifies as “Tech Majors” — Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Uber, Airbnb, Block and Stripe. In 2025, engineers accounted for 55% of all new hires, up from 46% in 2019.

Early-stage startups showed a similar pattern. Collectively, they hired 7% more engineers in 2025 than they did in 2019, according to SignalFire’s data.

Why AI Has Not Reduced Demand For Engineers

If AI were genuinely replacing engineering talent, hiring in the profession would likely be among the first areas to weaken during a broader slowdown in technology recruitment. Instead, engineering demand has remained stronger than many other functions.

Part of the explanation may be that AI tools increase productivity without necessarily reducing workloads. Faster coding can accelerate product development, generate more ideas, and create additional infrastructure requirements, ultimately increasing the amount of technical work to be completed.

That dynamic resembles the Jevons paradox, the economic theory that greater efficiency can increase overall demand rather than reduce it. Applied to software development, the principle suggests that more productive engineers may be able to build more products, features and services.

As Bantock put it, engineers are now “suddenly a lot more productive, and there’s endless work for them to do.”

Executives Remain Divided On AI’s Labor Impact

The broader debate remains unresolved across the industry. Last year, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei warned that AI could eliminate a substantial share of entry-level white-collar jobs and significantly increase unemployment within the next five years.

Others within the sector are more cautious. Anthropic’s head of economics, Peter McCrory, told TechCrunch in March that he had not yet observed clear evidence of large-scale AI-driven workforce disruption.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has also pushed back against predictions of declining demand for software engineers. Speaking at Stanford Graduate School of Business in April, he argued that engineers at Nvidia have become busier, not less relevant, as AI tools become more capable.

“Now that all engineers at Nvidia are using agentic AI, software engineers are busier than ever,” Huang said. While AI can generate code in seconds, he argued, engineers continue to focus on developing new ideas, products and systems.

The Bottom Line For Tech Talent

For now, the available evidence suggests AI is transforming engineering work more than eliminating it. Productivity gains are changing how software is developed, but demand for technical talent remains resilient despite broader hiring pressures across the technology sector.

Rather than making engineers obsolete, AI appears to be reshaping the role itself, allowing teams to work faster while continuing to expand the range and complexity of projects they can pursue.

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Europe’s Deadly Summer Heat Exposed The Cost Of A Warming Continent

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 23, 2026

Europe experienced its deadliest summer for heat-related deaths on record in 2026, with an estimated 24,400 excess deaths linked to extreme temperatures across 30 countries. Researchers estimate that human-induced climate change was responsible for around 32,000 of the deaths attributed to heat in the study’s broader analysis, accounting for 65% of the total.

The findings highlight the growing public-health consequences of global warming, largely driven by fossil fuel use, as extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe.

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A Summer Of Dangerous Heat

Between June and August, heatwaves pushed temperatures in Western Europe to an average of 2.9°C above the 1991–2020 norm, with some days reaching 12°C above average. Nearly a third of estimated heat-related deaths occurred during a particularly intense heatwave between 17 June and 1 July.

“These numbers are a stark reminder that our hotter, more extreme summers are having an increasingly severe impact on public health,” said Dr Clair Barnes, a researcher at Imperial College London and co-author of the study.

The estimated toll exceeded previous peaks of around 29,000 deaths in summer 2022 and 28,000 in 2003 across the region studied.

How Researchers Estimated The Toll

Researchers modelled the relationship between temperature and mortality across 854 urban areas in the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland, covering around 40% of the population in the 30 countries studied.

The analysis incorporated temperature records, age, socioeconomic conditions, environmental factors and access to healthcare. By comparing actual temperatures with those expected without human-induced warming, the team estimated the additional deaths attributable to climate change.

Final official mortality figures for summer 2026 are not yet available in many countries, and heat-related deaths are often underreported because their effects can be difficult to identify directly.

Older People Face The Greatest Risk

People aged 85 and over accounted for roughly half of the estimated deaths. However, the impact extended across age groups, with around 800 excess deaths among adults aged 20–44 and approximately 6,000 among people under 65.

Southern Europe experienced the highest mortality burden, reflecting hotter temperatures and other vulnerabilities, including air pollution, limited green space and unequal access to healthcare and heat-alert systems.

Italy, France And Spain Record Highest Toll

Italy recorded an estimated 13,303 heat-related excess deaths, followed by France with 7,268 and Spain with 6,824. Germany recorded around 6,340, while the UK saw an estimated 4,354 deaths.

In the UK, the heat also placed significant pressure on healthcare services. Andrew Hartle, Professor of Practice of Anaesthesia at Imperial College Healthcare, said demand during the summer resembled that of a severe winter virus season.

Cities Urged To Strengthen Heat Protection

Researchers say cities can reduce the risks through climate shelters, external shading and building retrofits, alongside measures to help residents avoid exposure during the hottest hours. Checking on vulnerable people, staying hydrated and following heat alerts are also important.

The researchers stress that adaptation must go hand in hand with reducing fossil fuel use to limit further warming. The findings underline that extreme heat is already a major public-health threat across Europe, with thousands of lives at risk each summer.