Software Slowdown, AI Growth: Inside September’s Tech Jobs Data

September 2025 Jobs Data Reveals Tech’s Next Shift

It’s certainly been a bumpy month in tech hiring. Inside the drop-off are clear signals about where workforce transformation is heading, more revealing than any press release or product launch.

At Aura, we help investors and consultants decipher the underlying trends in the workforce. The latest software and AI job posting data from September 2025 provides a sharp snapshot of how priorities are shifting now.

And with the Bureau of Labor Statistics facing potential data blackouts due to shutdowns and declining response rates, independent signals matter more than ever. For example, ADP's long-running data is suddenly even more critical. ADP’s September report recently showed private employers shed 32,000 jobs, a sign that hiring momentum is losing steam across most sectors despite broader economic growth.

But you don't have to wait for monthly reports to see job trends.  Aura provides near-real-time workforce intelligence based on job posting and profile data, helping investors and consultants see these shifts as they occur. Here’s what we’re seeing:

Software Jobs Drop 25%, AI Roles Hold Strong

Software engineering job postings fell 25 percent in September, dropping from 190,000 in August to 139,000. That’s the steepest drop all year.

AI roles declined too, but only by 8 percent. And despite the broader slowdown, AI’s share of all software hiring rose quite dramatically to 12.4 percent of open roles. From the chart below, you can see how AI job postings break the trend. AI has transitioned from a niche to a mainstream technology.

AI Jobs Pull Away in Relative Importance

Coastal Tech Hubs Hit Hardest, Midwest Holds Steady

California still leads in total tech job postings, but it shed more than 8,000 software roles in a single month. Washington, with its major Seattle tech hub, was hit even harder, with declines of 29 percent in software and 33 percent in AI.

Texas showed more resilience, especially in AI, where job counts fell by only 3 percent. States like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania also weathered the storm better than most.

The hiring slowdown is real across the map, but it's sharpest in the oversaturated coastal tech centers. The Midwest and South are showing more stability.

AI Job Growth Expands Beyond Tech Into New Sectors

September increases included:

While core tech sectors, such as IT and software, pulled back on AI roles, other sectors accelerated. The fastest-growing industries for AI job postings in September included:

• Professional training and coaching up 148 percent

• Civil engineering up 95 percent

• Biotech up 61 percent

• E-learning up 51 percent

These are not typical AI-first industries. But they are turning into AI-enabled ones. The next wave of AI adoption will be about companies using AI, not just tech companies building it. That means more applied, vertical-specific roles are on the way.

Top Software Skills Still in Demand: APIs, AWS, ML

The most in-demand software skills in September were not flashy; they were more focused on foundational tech, including:

• APIs

• AWS

• Continuous integration

• Machine learning

• Docker

• Git

It is worth noting that machine learning ranked fourth across all software roles, not just AI-related ones.  The boundary between AI jobs and general software jobs is starting to blur. AI literacy is becoming a baseline requirement.

Consulting Firms and Contractors Lead Tech Hiring

The biggest hirers in September involved intermediaries and consultancies:

• Rit Solutions

• Amazon

• Capital One

• Consultancies like Accenture, PwC, and Deloitte

Strategic Takeaways for Investors and Consultants

This hiring report contains some powerful signals.  Companies are moving from expansion to prioritization. Budgets are tighter, but AI, cloud, and automation skills are still non-negotiable. We are seeing contraction in total roles, but not in technical complexity.

If you're advising a portfolio company, diligence target, or strategy team, keep this in mind: hiring may be cooling, but transformation is heating up.

The types of roles being posted reveal more about direction than raw volume. And the shift from more engineers to more AI capability is already happening across industries.

Why Aura Signals Matter Now

When public workforce data goes dark or loses trust, decision-makers need independent, real-time insight. Request an Aura demo today to see how workforce signals can sharpen your investment, diligence, and strategy decisions.