The short answer
BLS projects software developer, QA and tester employment to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035 and information security analysts 21%, against 3.5% for all occupations. But growth explains a minority of hiring: 71–91% of each occupation's projected annual openings come from replacing workers who leave, not from new roles.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published its 2025–35 employment projections on 27 August 2026 [7]. The headline growth figures for technology occupations get quoted widely. The more useful finding sits one layer down, in where those occupations' openings actually come from — and it changes what a hiring manager should expect.
The headline figures
Total US employment is projected to grow 3.5 percent over the decade, from 170.3 million to 176.2 million jobs [7]. Across all computer and information technology occupations, BLS projects about 280,000 openings a year [6]. Five of those occupations cover most of the platform work we staff:
| Occupation (BLS) | Jobs, 2025 | Growth, 2025–35 | Openings per year | Median pay, May 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers, QA analysts and testers [1] | 1,905,400 | 10% | 106,100 | $134,040 |
| Information security analysts [2] | 192,900 | 21% | 14,100 | $129,180 |
| Computer network architects [3] | 181,800 | 8% | 9,600 | $134,050 |
| Database administrators and architects [4] | 144,500 | 4% | 7,300 | $126,760 |
| Network and computer systems administrators [5] | 323,600 | −4% | 13,400 | $99,130 |
The finding: openings are mostly replacement
BLS projects openings from two sources: new jobs created by growth, and existing jobs vacated by workers who retire or move to another occupation. Spreading each occupation's ten-year employment change evenly across the decade, and comparing it with BLS's projected annual openings, shows how little of the demand is growth:
| Occupation | Net new jobs per year | Openings per year | Share from replacement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers, QA analysts and testers | 18,540 | 106,100 | 82.5% |
| Information security analysts | 4,060 | 14,100 | 71.2% |
| Computer network architects | 1,410 | 9,600 | 85.3% |
| Database administrators and architects | 650 | 7,300 | 91.1% |
| Network and computer systems administrators | −1,320 | 13,400 | All of it |
Even information security — the fastest-growing occupation here — draws more than 70 percent of its openings from replacement. Network and computer systems administration is projected to shrink by 13,200 jobs over the decade and still generate about 13,400 openings a year [5]. BLS itself notes that many openings in these occupations come from the need to replace workers who leave [1].
82.5%
of projected annual openings for software developers, QA analysts and testers come from replacement rather than growth (Conntal analysis of [1])
What this means if you are hiring
Growth figures suggest a market that is simply getting bigger. Replacement figures describe something more specific: a steady outflow of experienced people, with their places filled by whoever is available. For platform work — the brokers, data platforms and ITOM estates comparatively few engineers have operated in production — that outflow is what makes senior people hard to find, and it does not show up in a growth percentage.
It also explains why a shrinking occupation can still be hard to hire for. Systems administration is not growing, but the people leaving it take years of operational knowledge with them that a new entrant does not have.
How these occupations map to the roles we staff
BLS publishes projections for occupations, not job titles, and does not publish separate projections for DevOps engineers, site reliability engineers or data engineers. Those roles sit inside broader occupations. The mapping below is ours, not BLS's, and it is approximate by design:
| Role | Nearest BLS occupations |
|---|---|
| DevOps engineers | Software developers; network and computer systems administrators |
| Site reliability engineers | Software developers; network and computer systems administrators |
| Data engineers | Database administrators and architects; software developers |
| ServiceNow ITOM developers | Software developers |
| Enterprise architects | No close match — computer network architects and database architects each cover part of it |
Sources
- [1] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers. 2025–35 projections, May 2025 wages; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [2] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Information Security Analysts. 2025–35 projections, May 2025 wages; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [3] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Computer Network Architects. 2025–35 projections, May 2025 wages; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [4] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Database Administrators and Architects. 2025–35 projections, May 2025 wages; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [5] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Network and Computer Systems Administrators. 2025–35 projections, May 2025 wages; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [6] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Computer and Information Technology Occupations. 2025–35 projections; retrieved 4 October 2026.Primary source
- [7] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections: 2025–2035 Summary. Released 27 August 2026.Primary source
Related questions
Does BLS publish projections for DevOps engineers or SREs?
No. BLS projects employment for occupations rather than job titles, and does not publish separate projections for DevOps or site reliability engineering. Those roles are classified within broader occupations, most often software developers or network and computer systems administrators.
How can an occupation that is shrinking still have job openings?
Because most openings come from replacement rather than growth. BLS projects network and computer systems administrator employment to fall 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, yet still expects about 13,400 openings a year as existing workers retire or move into other occupations.
How fast are tech jobs projected to grow from 2025 to 2035?
BLS projects 10 percent growth for software developers, QA analysts and testers, 21 percent for information security analysts and 8 percent for computer network architects, against 3.5 percent for total US employment. Database administrators and architects grow 4 percent; systems administrators decline 4 percent.