Banks and healthcare firms are outbidding tech for software talent, major recruiter says

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Banks, healthcare companies and other non-tech employers are outbidding tech firms for software engineers as demand for AI skills rises and layoffs reshape the talent market, according to new research by recruitment giant Randstad.

Healthcare and life sciences firms are paying up to 17% more for software engineers than tech companies, while banking is offering 13% more, per the research, which surveyed 1,100 business and technology decision-makers in 11 countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan, and drew on 20 million job postings and roughly 100 million candidate profiles.

"These businesses see massive potential in AI, realizing business cases that they were not able to realize before," Sander van 't Noordende told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday.

"We've seen a massive investment wave in the technology sector ... now that wave is shifting towards businesses looking to find the benefits of AI."

The research also found that job postings requiring AI capabilities grew fivefold over the past year.

Tech layoffs reshape hiring

Meanwhile, 55% of non-tech organizations surveyed said they were recruiting workers following tech-sector layoffs.

U.S. tech companies announced 165,925 job cuts in the first nine months of 2026, a 54% jump from the same period in 2025, per data published by consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Oct. 1.

Microsoft recently said it's offering voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees. In June, Oracle said its workforce had shrunk by 21,000 in a year. Meta began layoffs in May, affecting 10% of its workforce, or around 8,000 jobs.

In February, Jack Dorsey's payment company Block laid off more than 4,000 employees, nearly half of its workforce.