Randstad’s U.S. survey found 93% of organizations polled were increasing technology headcount, while employers cited artificial intelligence use as a factor reshaping the skills they need.
The U.S. percentage records what survey respondents said, not a tally of actual hiring by all employers nationwide. In Randstad’s study across 11 markets, 86% of organizations said they were growing technology teams, making the U.S. reading higher than the global result.
System architecture and AI orchestration together were the hardest capability to recruit, according to 41% of U.S. respondents. Another 69% of U.S. executives said recruiting people with strong communication and stakeholder-management abilities was harder than hiring “pure coders.” That points to demand for coordination and communication as well as technical skills.
Randstad US said technology firms were not the only employers seeking these workers: 70% of U.S. non-tech respondents said they were recruiting from the tech sector, 15 percentage points above the global benchmark. In its global dataset, the number of advertisements seeking AI capabilities was more than five times the prior year’s level.
Randstad linked rising demand to companies’ use of AI to create digital services and new revenue streams. It said employers also need people able to design system architecture and manage AI-related risks.
The study’s primary research involved 1,100 interviews with senior business and technology decision-makers in 11 markets in the first half of August 2026, including 100 respondents in each market. For its secondary analysis, Randstad examined more than 20 million job ads and about 100 million candidate profiles, using data compiled in August.
The report also found women represented 32% of North American professionals with emerging AI skills, compared with 39% in established technology roles. The figures show a smaller female share in emerging AI positions than in established tech roles.
“Far from replacing tech talent, AI is fundamentally redefining it,” Randstad CEO Sander van 't Noordende said.
