2026 predictions for SE engineers

Here’s what you can expect from 2026 as a software engineer:

1. The 2026 tech job market will still feel stuck… But will slowly get better. 

2. The number of developers who can’t code because they rely too much on AI will keep on growing. 

3. Burnout in tech will reach all-time highs as software engineers stick to jobs they don’t like… Underpaid or undervalued… Just because they are afraid of the job market. Many are wrong. The job market is competitive, but not impossible. 

4. Technical interviewing is the skill developers can’t live without in such unstable market. Particularly live coding. 

5. The “Senior-only” job market will continue, with companies demanding Senior level skills regardless of the level they hire at (we’ve seen that in 2025 with Junior devs constantly being asked Senior level interview questions).

6. Resume gaps and freelance work are becoming the norm in developer CVs. Make sure you know how to work around them.

7. Remote work will keep on growing despite many companies asking developers to come to the office. Hybrid will dominate local job markets. Management will have to shift to Outcome-Based Performance Metrics. Companies demanding office 5-days a week will keep loosing talent.

8. React will become the absolute default when building frontend applications. Meaning if you want to stand out as a frontend dev you will have to learn some new skills if you want to stand out. 

9. Yes, AI is a bubble… But I can’t tell you if it will pop in 2026… Or 2027… Or 2028. What you should care more about is… What will you do when the bubble pops? Spoiler: find a job at a company who doesn’t depend 100% on AI. Avoid AI startups. Stick to traditional sectors if you can (health care, defense, CRMs, ERPs). Open AI, Anthropic and most AI companies don’t employ that many people. It is their investors and not their employees that will take the blow. 

10. Developer productivity will still be under huge scrutiny… Obsessed by AI productivity gains, management will keep on pushing developers to do more with less. Get good at managing expectations and communicating the value of the code you write (or use AI to write).

11. Job hopping is stopping to pay off. Developers who jump from job to job looking for a pay increase are in for a big surprise… Because they probably won’t get one unless they can prove they can deliver at a higher level. 

12. Junior devs will face even more competition… What can I say… It is not your fault, is the market. If you can’t get an internship, undergrad work is better than nothing. Look for roles outside of software engineering

13. The young generation is losing interest in software engineering… Uni students are switching CS degrees to AI or ML degrees. This will cause a huge shortage of software engineers in a couple of years. Mark my words. 

14. Ironically, most web innovation will be driven by AI companies trying to justify their roadmaps and valuation. DeepMind acquired Windsurf AI. Bun just got acquired by Anthropic.

15. AI productivity gains will still be highly marketed but still unclear… Leaving aside boilerplate creation, AI coding keeps being unpredictable and inconsistent. Probabilistic code generation doesn’t scale well. 

Ohhh, and my last prediction. 

Bogdan and I will keep delivering the best program in the galaxy for JavaScript Engineers looking to level up to Senior :) 

Book a chat here to see if you qualify! 

Spoiler: I am only taking calls until Wednesday (leaving on a mini holiday till next week).

Take care, 

Dragos