Cautious Optimism: Opportunities and Challenges in NZ’s Tech Sector

"Yeah, but…yeah..."

"Summing up the current 2026 recruitment market for NZ’s Tech & IT Sector remains a challenging exercise. First off, I acknowledge that there are still many candidates who continue to find the market challenging and that we are seeing demand that is often patchy and still often highly competitive.  

Global geopolitical uncertainties, inflation and a looming (and probably very close) election are all there, but rather than acting as a handbrake, it’s more a case of taking it easy on the gas as we turn the corner.  

Overall, our fabulous tech sector continues to grow, and in the past couple of months I have had tremendous growth focussed discussions with a variety of SaaS, Fintech, AI, and Cleantech start up’s and scale up’s. The tech ecosystem future remains very bright.  

Across the sector, demand in Software Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Development, Data Related capability and Tech Transformation continues to improve. Toi Mai’s Digital Skills Survey 2025, found that more than 51% expected hiring to increase over the next 12 months.

And then there is AI, and more on that later. 

But hiring remains cautious in the broader economy, with demand concentrated in specific capability areas, rather than broad-based hiring. Employers are still hiring, but they are prioritising roles that are directly tied to delivery, resilience, transformation, automation, or revenue.   

Salaries (based on SEEK’s salary index) have improved, we’re not talking post covid growth, but organisations are prepared to reward talent, while businesses that expect a “bargain” because the market softened, will likely miss top candidates.  

Back to AI and I noted a story from Australia on Atlassian’s restructure and the unfortunate disestablishment of 1,600 jobs globally. This was widely reported as being due to AI, or at best, due to the company’s investment in their AI capability. However, Atlassian’s share price has been under significant performance-based pressure, and their SaaS offerings are in a highly competitive space, ripe for AI disruption.

So, while the future remains uncertain, right now AI is fuelling demand for new roles in AI Engineering, Governance and Risk management, providing additive demand to existing roles. Employers want people who can reduce delivery risk, modernise platforms, improve efficiency, and help them use AI more effectively. The skills they need to deliver this go beyond the technical, to soft skills across collaboration, flexibility and a broader technical skill set.  

In closing, while we are not quite on the home straight yet, the tech talent market continues to improve and provide great careers for New Zealander’s."

Tribe Tech is a specialised division of Tribe Group, focused on placing highly skilled tech talent in New Zealand’s rapidly evolving technology sector. 

Whether you want to expand you team, or are interested in new opportunities, reach out to Steve Cotton or the Tribe Tech team today.