Trending Tech and IT Skills Reflect Talent Demands for Priority Projects

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By Katie Merritt, Senior Research and Data Manager, Robert Half

Technology leaders across the U.S. are contending with a significant and sustained tech and IT skills shortage—one that’s threatening to slow digital progress, impede innovation and strain internal teams.

According to research for Robert Half’s Building Future-Forward Tech Teams, 76% of technology leaders see a skills gap in their department. Nearly half (45%) of leaders surveyed said staffing challenges have already had a negative impact on their projects, while an equal percentage are concerned an insufficient supply of skilled talent could impede their ability to implement new technologies this year.

In many cases, the initiatives that tech and IT skills gaps are putting at risk are foundational for organizations to maintain competitiveness, reduce operational risk and prepare for what’s next. Many projects no doubt relate directly to the top five priorities for tech leaders this year, which we identified through research for our 2025 tech report:

1. Security of IT systems and information

2. AI, machine learning and automation initiatives

3. AI governance

4. Technology modernization

5. Cloud initiatives

The connection between tech leaders’ top priorities and labor market trends

We wanted to explore how the need for skilled talent to support critical initiatives in the five priority areas outlined above may be having an impact on the demand for specific types of tech and IT expertise in the labor market at large. To get that insight, Robert Half analyzed more than 2 million job postings from Q1 2025 provided by Textkernel.

The numbers below reflect the volume of job postings that specifically called for each skill listed between January 1 and March 31, 2025.

Top skills overall in tech and IT jobs

Python (+61,800 jobs)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) (+50,300 jobs)

Microsoft Azure (+48,500 jobs)

SQL (+46,400 jobs)

Agile (+41,700 jobs)

Java (+39,700 jobs)

Linux (+28,300 jobs)

JavaScript (+26,000 jobs)

Kubernetes (+24,700 jobs)

Docker (+20,500 jobs)

These findings underscore how today’s most sought-after tech and IT professionals are expected to bring fluency in cloud technologies and programming frameworks—plus the ability to work within agile teams. These skill sets are needed to support every priority on that top five list.

Tech and IT skills in high demand—by functional focus

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While foundational skills like Python and SQL and cloud platform expertise dominated job postings in the first quarter of 2025, it’s clear from our analysis that many employers are also actively seeking specialists in key functional areas. The following three lists break down in-demand skills by focus area, each critical to different parts of the technology stack and business operations.

In-Demand Tech and IT Skills by Functional Focus

Cybersecurity and privacy skills
Software and web application development skills
Cloud architecture skills

Understanding the distinctions between these categories is essential, whether you’re hiring talent or searching for a job in tech and IT. Knowing which skills align with which tech discipline can help you make more informed decisions—about team structure, training or your next career move.

Cybersecurity and privacy skills

The value of cybersecurity expertise is only growing as organizations across industries contend with escalating threats and stricter data protection regulations. The demand for security specialists is even more pressing for companies with remote and hybrid work environments. Distributed workforces can introduce new vulnerabilities across devices, networks and cloud-based systems.

The following skills identified in our job postings analysis reflect businesses’ need to hire professionals who can help them defend digital infrastructure, protect user data and maintain compliance across increasingly complex IT environments.

1. Firewalls

2. Virtual private networks (VPNs)

3. Cloud computing

4. DevSecOps

5. Vulnerability assessment

6. User authentication

7. Security information and event management (SIEM)

8. Penetration testing

Get tips for navigating the cybersecurity skills gap.

Software and web application development skills

From internal tools to customer-facing platforms, software engineers play a vital role in helping organizations operate more efficiently, expand digital capabilities and update legacy systems to reduce technical debt.

This category highlights the skills many employers seek when hiring developers to build, deploy and maintain modern applications in rapidly changing business and IT environments.

1. Python

2. Agile

3. Java

4. Continuous integration (CI)

5. DevOps

6. APIs

7. Kubernetes

8. Docker

Need to hire a software developer for your team? Explore strategies for recruiting success.

Cloud architecture skills

Cloud infrastructure remains a cornerstone of enterprise technology strategy for businesses modernizing their IT, transforming digitally or both. Our analysis of Q1 2025 job listings indicates the demand is growing for professionals who can design, implement and manage scalable cloud solutions for hybrid and multicloud environments.

1. AWS

2. Microsoft Azure

3. Kubernetes

4. Docker

5. Terraform

6. Ansible

7. Cisco

8. VMWare

Learn how to build a tech team to deliver on your digital transformation strategy.

In-demand expertise for AI, machine learning and data science roles

As AI adoption moves from experimentation to enterprise scale, demand is also surging for professionals with AI, machine learning and data science experience. Below are the three most in-demand skills within IT functions, as identified in job postings from the first quarter of 2025.

1. Python

2. Apache Spark

3. Databricks

This list underscores what many U.S. employers are looking for when recruiting talent for future-forward tech and IT roles: Professionals with a blend of programming expertise, data platform fluency, and the ability to work with tools essential for building and scaling AI-driven solutions.

Of course, knowing what skills to acquire to support priority initiatives is only part of the challenge for today’s technology leaders. They still need to find candidates in the labor market who meet their requirements. And according to Robert Half’s research, 87% of tech leaders are struggling to do so.

Without the right teams in place, strategic initiatives—whether it’s AI implementation, cybersecurity enhancements or cloud migration—can stall or fail to scale. But as our Building Future-Forward Tech Teams report explains, organizations can make significant strides in bridging or closing critical gaps by prioritizing upskilling, embracing a flexible staffing strategy, and making forward-looking hiring decisions that can help them create a next-gen team ready to take on the demands of tomorrow.

Follow Katie Merritt on LinkedIn.

Learn more about tech and IT priorities for 2025—and the skills needed to support them

Read the report now

Robert Half’s research-driven report, Building Future-Forward Tech Teams, examines tech leaders’ priorities and challenges for 2025. It offers insights into overcoming critical tech and IT skills gaps—especially for technology modernization, digital transformation and enterprise systems projects—and tips for building well-rounded tech teams that are ready for what’s next.