Draup Releases the 2025 Economics of Skills: An Analysis of Global Tech Talent Report

New report analyzes shifts in tech skill lifespans, global labor economics and how AI is reshaping hiring, productivity and workforce planning worldwide

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Draup, a global leader in enterprise talent intelligence, today released its annual end-of-year tech talent report. The Economics of Skills: An Analysis of Global Tech Talent report examines how wage pressure, automation and the spread of technology talent across regions are changing the global labor market, with a focus on skills, hiring costs and how AI is being used across the workforce.

Last year saw heightened attention on the relationship between AI and jobs. In 2025, automation was cited by large tech companies in connection with nearly 50,000 job cuts in the U.S. The pace of those automation-driven layoffs has understandably created serious concerns among workers, policymakers and business leaders at the start of the new year about job security, career progression and how quickly roles are changing.

The Economics of Skills: An Analysis of Global Tech Talent report analyzes these developments, leveraging Draup's extensive global workforce data. The findings show that while some roles and tasks are being reduced or reworked, demand is rising in other areas. This is especially true in cybersecurity, AI engineering and roles that combine human expertise with automated systems.

Key findings from the report include:

• AI is changing how work gets done faster than jobs are being cut — even with near-term layoffs, the report points to net job growth of 78 million by the end of the decade, driven by productivity gains and demand for AI, cybersecurity and hybrid roles
• Tech skills are turning over faster than before because of AI — the half-life of tech skills has fallen below two years, with about 40% of today's tech skills expected to be partially obsolete by 2027, as roles increasingly combine multiple skill sets
• A "silent repricing" is reshaping global labor markets — regional pay gaps have narrowed, with labor arbitrage now below 20% for many niche roles across AI, cybersecurity and data engineering
• Cybersecurity hiring continues to lag demand — open roles still outnumber available talent, and shortages are expected to persist through 2028
• Hiring is shifting away from traditional job titles — companies are recruiting more for Builders, Orchestrators and Synthesizers, reflecting broader, more mixed roles
• Emerging regions are doing more than delivery work — talent growth across APAC, Latin America and parts of EMEA now includes AI, data and engineering roles

"We're not seeing tech jobs disappear outright, but the way work gets done is certainly changing," said Vishnu Shankar, vice president of data and platform at Draup. "AI is compressing skill cycles, reshaping roles and shifting where productivity comes from faster than most organizations expect. This goes beyond hiring more or fewer people. It's about how work actually gets done as AI becomes part of everyday roles."

As AI changes how companies compete, many technology teams are rethinking how they hire, build skills and expand across regions. With data from more than 1 million companies, 850 million professionals, 56,000 technologies and 8,500 labor providers, Draup gives leaders visibility into emerging skills and workforce shifts so they can quickly adjust planning efforts.

To read the full Economics of Skills: An Analysis of Global Tech Talent report and its findings on the economics of skills, AI and human augmentation, visit https://draup.com/talent/data-books/economics-of-skills-ai-augmentation.

Learn more about how Draup can help your organization turn data into workforce strategy at https://draup.com/.

About Draup:

Draup is a leading Talent Strategy Platform that delivers multi-dimensional global labor and market data to drive enterprises' Talent Intelligence, Work Redesign & Transformative Skills Architecture initiatives. Draup supports HR Leaders in optimizing their workforce strategies by helping them address evolving workforce needs, assess global talent & peer group landscape, and design career paths for long-term success. With real-time access to granular data and personalized insights, Draup empowers customers with actionable intelligence & recommendations to strengthen their talent strategies.

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SOURCE Draup