Cybersecurity vendors boost hiring as AI reshapes tech

Cybersecurity vendors increased hiring across Australia and New Zealand in the latest quarter, according to new data from Pointer Strategy. The rise came as artificial intelligence continued to reshape recruitment across the technology sector.

Seven security vendors in the recruiter's top 100 technology employers posted 180 unique job advertisements in the 90 days to 22 September, up 43% from the previous quarter. Check Point recorded the sharpest increase, posting 42 roles, up 133%.

Other security groups also stepped up recruitment. Netskope increased job advertising by 96%, Palo Alto Networks by 61%, and UpGuard by 48%.

Ricky Pearl, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pointer Strategy, linked the trend to a worsening threat environment and changing product demand.

"The data over the past 90 days shows three technology markets are growing strongly - cybersecurity vendors, hyperscalers and distributors - while traditional enterprise software was down," Pearl said.

"Additionally, Australian tech companies were mixed, and our telcos were down."

The data covered 10,346 unique go-to-market advertisements from 2,650 technology companies. It points to a widening split between areas of tech tied to security, cloud infrastructure and AI, and more established software vendors pulling back on commercial hiring.

Enterprise software falls

The 18 mainly US application software companies in the top 100 moved in the opposite direction. Their unique job advertisements fell from 530 in the previous quarter to 438.

SAP showed the steepest drop, with job ads down 69%. Snowflake fell 53%, Databricks declined 44%, and Salesforce was down 26%.

The decline came even as some of those businesses continued to report underlying revenue growth. SAP, for example, reported higher cloud revenue, stronger Cloud ERP Suite revenue and a larger current cloud backlog in its latest quarterly results.

Pearl said the hiring figures suggested a shift in the mix of roles being sought rather than a simple deterioration in trading conditions.

"SAP's underlying business isn't contracting," Pearl said.

"I think it shows that enterprise software companies are changing what skills they need rather than simply expanding headcount across traditional GTM functions."

Elsewhere in enterprise software, ServiceNow and HubSpot stayed within 10% of previous-quarter levels, while Workday was down 11% after earlier workforce reductions.

Cloud hiring grows

The major hyperscalers continued to add commercial roles. Amazon, including AWS, posted 334 unique advertisements, up 45% from the previous quarter.

That total exceeded the combined advertising of Microsoft, Google and CoStar. Microsoft posted 108 roles, Google 102, and CoStar 100.

The four largest hyperscalers - AWS, Microsoft, Google and Oracle - collectively advertised 571 roles, an increase of 38%.

"The growth highlights the contrast within the technology sector, with companies selling cloud infrastructure and AI-related capabilities continuing to build their commercial teams while many traditional enterprise software vendors reduced recruitment," Pearl said.

Distributors rise

The services and distribution segment produced a mixed result overall. Nineteen services firms, resellers and distributors posted 467 unique advertisements, down 6%.

Services companies drove much of the decline. Datacom advertised 57% fewer roles, IBM was down 60%, and NCS fell 36%.

Distributors, however, recorded some of the strongest growth in the market. Dicker Data increased advertising by 192%, TechData by 167%, SoftwareOne by 129%, and Atturra by 167%.

Pearl linked Dicker Data's increase to demand for AI infrastructure projects.

"In August Dicker Data launched Advanced Logistics Services to support complex AI, HPC and datacentre infrastructure deployments," Pearl said.

"The company says AI infrastructure projects increasingly involve servers, networking, storage and equipment from multiple vendors. That potentially explains why a distributor is increasing GTM recruitment so dramatically and why AI infrastructure is creating new channel opportunities."

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Among the 70 largest technology advertisers, Nearmap recorded the biggest increase, with hiring up 300%. Dicker Data, Atturra, TechData and Oracle also ranked among the biggest gainers.

Pearl pointed to Nearmap's expansion into new products as a factor.

"Nearmap's 300% surge in GTM advertising comes as the Australian-founded company expands from aerial imagery into AI-powered property intelligence," Pearl said.

Some of Australia's best-known technology groups moved lower. Airwallex was down 41%, Canva fell 27%, and Atlassian declined 16%.

Results were mixed elsewhere. MYOB's advertising fell 11%, while Xero increased hiring by 21%.

Telecommunications companies also reduced recruitment. Telstra's advertising dropped 39% to 53 roles, though that still made it the 11th-largest advertiser among technology companies. Optus posted 37 advertisements, down 46%.

Digital marketplaces stood out as another area of growth. Carsales posted 54 advertisements, up 129%, while REA Group increased 89% and Domain rose 24% to 39 ads.

Sales remained the largest go-to-market function, accounting for 36% of advertising among the top 100 technology employers. Presales made up 13% of technology advertisements, customer success 11%, and marketing 11%.

Technology employers also offered higher pay in roles where salary details were disclosed. The median base midpoint was $120,000 for technology-sector positions, compared with $104,000 for non-technology go-to-market roles.

"AI is changing the products technology companies sell and potentially the people they need to sell them," Pearl said.