Why Tech Jobs Are Booming in Emerging Markets While Advanced Economies Freeze

Tech Hiring Trends: A Global Shift

While advanced economies have experienced a significant tech hiring freeze, emerging markets have largely avoided this trend. According to Indeed Hiring Lab data, tech job postings in emerging markets remain 47% above pre-pandemic levels as of October 2025, contrasting sharply with substantial declines in the US and other developed nations.

Key Regional Differences

Emerging markets including India, Mexico, and the Philippines have shown remarkable resilience in tech hiring. India alone accounts for about three-quarters of emerging market tech postings, but growth has been even faster in countries like Mexico and the Philippines.

Tech posts are down in most advanced economies, but still up in emerging markets

The Divergence Since 2022

During the initial pandemic boom, tech postings roughly doubled across both advanced and emerging economies. However, trends began to diverge significantly in mid-2022. While US and other advanced economies saw sharp declines that fully reversed the boom, emerging markets experienced plateaus followed by gradual easing rather than crashes.

Emerging market tech postings have held up better since 2022

Shifting Global Geography of Tech Opportunities

The divergence in posting trends has dramatically reshaped the global distribution of tech opportunities. The emerging market share of global tech postings among tracked countries has nearly doubled from 16% in early 2020 to 28% by September 2025.

Emerging market share of global tech postings has nearly doubled

Is Outsourcing Driving the Trend?

A natural question is whether this shift represents outsourcing from advanced economies. Analysis of individual tech job titles suggests this plays only a subtle role. The types of jobs that declined most in the US—such as web developers—also showed relative weakness in emerging markets. Similarly, AI-related roles including machine learning engineers have performed relatively well in both regions.

The tech job titles down most in the US have also been relatively weak in EMEs

Current Market Conditions in Emerging Markets

While emerging markets haven't experienced the same hiring freeze as advanced economies, there are clear signs of cooling. The tech share of total job postings within emerging markets has dropped from 22% at its peak to 15% as of September 2025, below its pre-pandemic 17% share.

Tech postings now lagging other categories within EMEs

This softening, occurring simultaneously with plunges in North America and Europe, indicates that many factors weighing on tech demand in advanced economies are likely affecting emerging markets too, though to a lesser extent.