By many accounts, 2025 is not an ideal year to be an IT worker. The reason is simple: widespread and large-scale layoffs among technology workers, especially in the tech sector.
Indeed, a new study from RationalFX predicts that there will be more than 235,000 tech worker layoffsOpens a new window in 2025, thanks in large part to the growing popularity of artificial intelligence and automation.
“Similarly to many other major tech businesses, LinkedIn, a Microsoft-owned company, has been heavily investing in AI,” the firm noted in a recent release. “Although it has not explicitly said it is replacing employees with automation and AI tools, it is now cutting 281 positions across its California offices, mostly engineering and product management roles. It is just one of many tech giants announcing job cuts, following mass layoffs in the tech sector in 2023 and 2024.”
If this sobering prediction is true, workforce security has certainly fallen for many IT professionals, who were once viewed as among the most in-demand and safest professionals. I asked three IT leaders for their views on the layoff picture among IT workers, who is likely most vulnerable, and how you can promote your value to an employer to better protect your job.
The most layoff-resistant IT roles
The IT roles that add the most value to an organization are always “the safest,” according to Chris McMasters, CIO for the City of CoronaOpens a new window , CA. Topping his list are jobs in cybersecurity, cloud, AI, and analytics.
Agreeing with that assessment is Vince Kellen, CIO at the University of California in San DiegoOpens a new window . He says the safest IT job roles include “AI development, cybersecurity, business systems analyst, cloud architect, project manager, and data architect – which is less prone to use of AI, and requires more experience or human social skills.”
IT jobs such as traditional software coding and core networking are more vulnerable, since AI can displace them, as can traditional outsourcing, McMasters says.
In terms of industry outlooks, McMasters explains “I would have said that the government is safe, but that has not been the case recently, so I don’t see any one sector as safer than another in the current climate.”
Where managers look first for layoffs
If an IT manager must make layoff decisions in their staff, it is important that IT workers know what is likely to focus the attention on certain individuals. For union shops, seniority ranking determines layoffs, Kellen says. For non-union staff, it is more likely that a reorganization will consolidate functions and cause layoffs.
In that case, attention is always given to underperformers, non-team players, and those who don’t add value to the organization, McMasters says.
“Additionally, every time I’ve been involved in layoff scenarios, organizations focus on projects and teams not aligned to the company’s priorities and areas that do not have measurable ROI or impact,” McMasters says.
How to protect yourself
Higher levels of expertise and scarcity of workers with a certain skill are common reasons to protect a specific IT worker. Tech professionals that can handle more technical complexity or handle more organizational complexity – such as managing teams successfully or working with many clients successfully – tend to be most valued and get protected or promoted, Kellen explains.
Equally important with skills that you’ve has acquired are the traits that come more naturally.
“The three traits I really look for are people who are humble, hungry, and smart,” McMasters says. “It comes from a book by Patrick Lencioni entitled “The Ideal Team Player.” I look for people who are humble enough to learn; hungry for what is next, and to be part of a team; and perhaps most important is that they are not just smart enough to do their job, but they have a high emotional IQ. In IT, we often lack that last trait and need to develop it.”
Especially valuable are the things you do in your role role to help advance the organization – to make it more efficient, less costly, and more profitable.
“I routinely tell IT professionals that career advancement is based not only on their technical skills, but also on knowledge of the business processes they support and their ability to work constructively with other people,” explains Mark Settle, a seven-time CIO and author of the book “Truth from the Trenches: A Practical Guide to the Art of IT ManagementOpens a new window .”
“Job security is based upon the same factors. Individuals with specialized skills, keen business insight and the ability to bring out the best in others are invaluable in any IT organization,” Settle says.
Be your own best advocate
The best way you can help protect their own job is to demonstrate the value you bring to your role. That starts by ensuring that the organization pays attention to the successes and gains that you accomplish along the way.
“I think employees that take initiative and can quickly master new technologies and new skills are highly valued,” Kellen says. “Also, high expertise employees with high productivity are always valued. The best action an IT employee can make is to jump in and help in a pinch, in difficult incidents or outages, and volunteer for additional tasks to help teammates out.”
McMasters agrees. “When IT workers can connect what they do to positive outcomes for the company, they are noticed. The closer they are to that point of impact, the more they stand out. Taking the initiative, motivating others, and aligning tasks and projects to the company’s goal – that is, the big picture.”
Promote your accomplishments
There are a few ways that you can best promote your accomplishments, Kellen says. Doing consistently high quality work with on-time delivery are among the best places to start. Keep a log of your accomplishments – big or small – and be ready to discuss them at performance review or performance check-in intervals, he says.
Also, make sure you have a story and elevator pitch that you can share with people.
“We often get questions about the work we do, so be willing not only to share, but also to explain how it connects to the organization,” McMasters explains. “Don’t be shy about sharing it on social media as well. If given the opportunity to present or teach on topics on which your work has had an impact, always take the opportunity. I love it when employees get up to the whiteboard and are confident enough to teach.”
Non-obvious accomplishments that matter
It can be very difficult for managers to pick up on non-obvious successes, Kellen confirms. You must therefore determine how you can be noticed through the overall quality of your work. It doesn’t mean you must constantly remind your bosses. The best way to do that is to relate those accomplishments back to active initiatives in meetings or sessions where your bosses can see evidence of your successes in real-time.
Besides academic and career-based awards, McMasters says “we love to see people serving others and giving back to their communities. In IT, it is so very easy to get hyper-focused. It is wonderful to see people use their talents and passions to make life better for other people, and we love to hear about those accomplishments. We also like to see portfolios where people have a history of not just starting things but finishing them inside and outside of work.”
Keep developing new skills
In order to make yourself indispensable to an employer, Kellen says IT pros should study new technologies always.
“Pick up new skills whenever you can,” Kellen says. “You can do this as a personal study, not just on the job. Volunteer for projects where you can apply these new skills. Always be learning. Absolutely master the new AI tools in your IT work and apply it smartly and safely.”
To be most valuable as an IT worker, always invest your time in deepening your knowledge in an area, learning new skills, new technologies, getting rigorous certifications or advanced degrees in areas they are interested in, Kellen says. Demonstrate your value to the organization whenever possible and connect their work to the organization’s objectives and priorities.
“Understand how you fit into the bigger picture and be humble enough to learn from everyone,” McMasters says. “I can’t stress this enough, but be flexible and never stop learning what is new. IT is not a static career, and to be of value, we must always be two steps ahead of what the organization will be asking for. Our job is to know what people want before they want it.”
Finally, “the market is tough right now, and we are beginning to see AI’s impact on our profession,” McMasters says. “The world of IT is changing rapidly. To stay ahead of it, we need to keep being curious and keep experimenting with what is on the edge so that we add value to the organizations we serve.”