Job seeking? These industries are hiring now—and AI literacy could give you an edge

So far in 2026, the U.S. economy has seen notable payroll expansion across several industries, from healthcare to professional and business services. Research for Robert Half’s latest Demand for Skilled Talent report found that 60% of hiring managers plan to add permanent staff in the first half of 2026, and 55% expect to bring in contract talent to support immediate needs.

Demand for professionals with specialized skills remains high, particularly for roles tied to critical business and digital initiatives. In a Robert Half survey, only 6% of hiring managers said they have the talent needed to complete high-priority projects. Many also reported that skills gaps are more pronounced, and hiring is harder than a year ago.

These are encouraging signs for the nearly 4 in 10 employed U.S. workers launching a job search in the first half of 2026. However, many employers are still taking a selective approach to hiring after a year of economic uncertainty in 2025. In many cases, they’re slowing down to evaluate candidates’ skills more carefully, especially as the rise of AI in the workplace changes workflows and job responsibilities.

Industries hiring in 2026: Top jobs, cities and AI skills to know

Why the job search may feel more competitive in 2026
Where are we seeing growth in the job market?
Top roles by demand in early 2026
Top cities with the strongest job growth in early 2026
In many industries hiring now, employers are looking for AI literacy
What AI literacy looks like in 3 top jobs
How to build AI literacy quickly

Why the job search may feel more competitive in 2026

That selectivity can feel frustrating if you’re applying for roles and not hearing back quickly, or if hiring processes drag out. One broader sign of strain in the labor market is long-term unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that 1.8 million people were unemployed for 27 weeks or more, up significantly from a year earlier.

While long-term unemployment has been trending up, unemployment rates remain very low in many specialized professions. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that annual unemployment rates for numerous roles stayed well below the 4.4% national rate in 2025. Here’s just a sampling:

Lawyers: 0.8%

Legal assistants: 0.5%

Financial analysts: 1.7%

Hardware engineers: 1.0%

Accountants and auditors: 2.0%

Security analysts: 2.1%

Medical records specialists: 1.0%

When unemployment in a field is low, it means employers are struggling to find candidates with the specific expertise they need. In other words, hiring challenges in 2026 are less about a lack of jobs and more about alignment between skills and business priorities.

Find out more about emerging trends in the labor market in early 2026.

Where are we seeing growth in the job market?

To help guide your job search in early 2026, it’s helpful to know what industries are hiring now, which roles are gaining momentum, and which cities are seeing increased job growth. Research conducted for Robert Half’s latest Demand for Skilled Talent report and other data analysis by our company help answer those questions.

Below are highlights of job posting growth in Q1 2026 compared with Q4 2025. These findings are based on analysis of over 415,000 positions appearing on more than 8,000 independent job boards and company websites between January 1 and March 31, 2026.

Bar chart showing industries leading job growth in Q1 2026.

Header: Robert Half Title: Industries leading job growth in early 2026 Subhead: Job gains by industry in Q1 2026 Data: Professional services — 129,100 Manufacturing — 65,800 Healthcare — 56,300 Finance and services — 51,000 Consumer goods — 35,300 Tech and IT — 28,000 Source: Job posting data for Q1 2026, based on analysis of over 415,000 positions appearing on more than 8,000 independent job boards and company websites between January 1, 2026 and March 31, 2026. © 2026 Robert Half Inc. An EOE M/F/D/V.

Top roles by demand in early 2026

Software engineer: +50,200 jobs

Customer service specialist: +46,700 jobs

Project manager: +36,000 jobs

Administrative assistant: +29,100 jobs

Executive assistant: +13,100 jobs

Machine learning engineer: +8,700 jobs

Systems engineer: +8,200 jobs

Data engineer: +7,900 jobs

Product manager: +7,700 jobs

Senior accountant: +7,600

Top cities with the largest job growth in early 2026

1. Columbus, OH: +16%

2. Des Moines, IA: +11%

3. Austin, TX: +10%

4. Cleveland, OH: +9%

5. Chicago, IL: +9%

6. Sacramento, CA: +9%

7. San Jose, CA: +9%

8. Charlotte, NC-SC: +8%

9. Denver, CO: +7%

10. Jacksonville, FL: +7%

Get the guide

See Robert Half’s Job Search Strategies Guide for practical tips and proactive steps to help you compete more effectively in today’s job market.

Bar chart showing gains and declines in job postings by industry in Q1 2026.

Header: Robert Half Title: Industries gaining and losing jobs in Q1 2026 Subhead: Year-on-year change in job postings by industry Data: Construction — +4,100 Manufacturing — +2,600 Wholesale trade — +400 Real estate — +200 Consumer goods — +100 Financial services — -700 Healthcare — -3,400 Tech & IT — -5,300 Professional services — -9,100 Source: Job posting data for Q1 2026, based on analysis of over 415,000 positions appearing on more than 8,000 independent job boards and company websites between January 1, 2026 and March 31, 2026 compared to the same period last year. © 2026 Robert Half Inc. An EOE M/F/D/V.

In many industries hiring now, employers are looking for AI literacy

If there’s one capability that’s moved from “nice to have” to genuinely career-driving this year, it’s AI literacy—the ability to understand, apply and critique AI as part of your everyday work. Employers are increasingly thinking about talent through this lens, and it’s influencing how roles are defined, how candidates are evaluated, and how teams operate once someone is hired. In fact, according to a recent Robert Half survey, 54% of executives say they expect AI to lead to job growth, not contraction, over the next 2 years.

New research from Robert Half also shows that more than 3 in 10 U.S. hiring managers (32%) who eliminated positions after implementing AI later had to add those roles, or very similar ones, back. These “AI correction hires” point to a broader lesson for job seekers: employers still need people who can bring judgment, context and accountability to AI-supported work.

Here’s why AI literacy matters, and why you should prioritize developing it.

1. It helps you adapt as workflows change

In many professional fields, from technology to legal, AI is taking on more routine tasks, including drafting content, analyzing data and streamlining repeatable steps. Professionals who know how to use AI tools effectively can work faster and more efficiently, but importantly, they also have more time to devote to high-value work for the business.

2. It can increase your marketability

As AI becomes more common in daily work, many teams are adding AI-related expectations to roles not traditionally technical. Showing familiarity with AI-supported workflows, automation tools and data-driven decision making can broaden the range of roles you are competitive for as a job seeker and put you on track for future-forward professional growth once you’re hired.

3. It requires you to use both technical and soft skills

AI doesn’t replace the need for soft skills like communication and collaboration. In fact, it makes them more important to job performance and career success. Across the professions featured in Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report, leaders are looking for candidates with soft skills like critical thinking and problem solving to help their organization ensure AI is used responsibly and effectively.

Human + AI roles are likely to move mainstream this year. Read more about this and other workplace trend predictions for 2026.

What AI literacy looks like in 3 top jobs

AI literacy becomes easier to understand when you can visualize how and where AI can show up in real work. We offer 3 examples from Q1’s list of top jobs:

Software engineer: AI can speed up routine development work for software engineers, such as drafting or refactoring code, generating tests and summarizing logs during debugging. AI literacy in this role includes knowing how to prompt effectively, validate output quality and apply standards that align with security and performance expectations.

Customer service specialist: In the customer service field, AI literacy means knowing when to rely on suggestions and when to override them to protect accuracy and preserve customer trust. AI can support agents with suggested replies, case summaries, knowledge base surfacing and smarter routing—but customers still expect empathy and resolution in agent interactions.

Staff accountant: AI can streamline tasks like transaction coding, reconciliations and anomaly detection. AI literacy for staff accountants includes knowing how to use tools to speed up routine work but also applying judgment to validate results and document anything that needs follow-up.

Searching for jobs like these? Explore our latest listings.

How to build AI literacy quickly

You don’t need a computer science background to develop meaningful AI literacy. Here are some practical approaches for building a foundational skill set likely to resonate with many employers:

Use AI in real work scenarios. Try using AI tools for drafting, research summaries, data exploration, project planning or process documentation. Pay attention to where it helps and where it creates risk or extra review work. If you’re currently employed, be sure to use approved tools in your workplace. If you’re not, experiment with tools popular in your target industry.

Build a baseline with structured learning. Short courses and certificates can help you understand concepts like prompting, bias, privacy and verification so you can use tools more responsibly. Many universities and online learning platforms now offer introductory AI courses that cover generative AI fundamentals, ethical considerations and practical workplace use cases.

Show proof, not buzzwords. On your resume and in interviews, share 1-2 specific examples of how you used AI to improve a process, speed up a task or support better decisions. Focus on outcomes, not tool names. For example, you might explain how you used AI to draft a first-pass client email that you refined, summarize a set of notes into action items, speed up research by organizing key themes or flag anomalies in a dataset before validating them yourself.

Practice explaining your guardrails. You may hear the term “guardrails” in discussions about the responsible use of AI. This refers to common-sense protections that keep AI from introducing errors, bias or risk. To demonstrate you understand the importance of these boundaries and how to apply them, be ready to describe how you validate results, protect sensitive information and decide what must be handled manually.

Across industries hiring now, AI is becoming part of the work environment itself. At a time when only 6% of organizations say they have the talent they need to complete priority projects and skills gaps remain pronounced, candidates who can combine domain expertise with AI literacy stand out. The ability to use AI tools thoughtfully, question outputs and improve workflows positions you as someone who can contribute immediately—and grow as the work evolves.

Stay informed about the latest labor market trends—with Robert Half

View Labor Market Overview

Want more data and insights on how the U.S. hiring environment is evolving in 2026? Visit Robert Half’s Labor Market Overview page to get a snapshot view of current hiring trends and access our expanded coverage on industries hiring, remote work statistics and trends, and more.