AI is automating coding. So why are software developer job postings on the rise?

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U.S. software development job postings have risen since February 2025, the launch date for Anthropic's Claude Code, even as overall job postings fell, complicating predictions that AI would rapidly erase demand for developers.

Concerns about the future of the software development career are well-founded, and intensified as companies adopted AI-powered coding tools, especially as those tools keep getting better. As far back as 2023, Microsoft's software development platform GitHub said that on projects where AI was available, it was close to writing half of all code.

Some AI experts claim AI-written code across the entire GitHub platform has now passed the halfway mark. GitHub has not confirmed that, but in October it did report that one in three "pull requests" — the process in which coders that collaborate on development propose code changes for projects — now involve an AI agent. A year ago, GitHub said that number was fewer than one in 10. "If that pace holds, within the next two years, most of the code pushed to GitHub could be written by an agent. Much of it may never be fully read by a human," it stated.

Labor market researchers say that against this backdrop, the profession is evolving rather than disappearing. Data from Indeed Hiring Lab shows that U.S. software-development job postings have risen nearly 15% since February 2025, bucking both the overall job market and the coding data.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly adept at research, drafting, coding and administrative work — all tasks traditionally given to junior employees across industries.

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Early gains in AI era may not last, young workers remain at risk

Anthropic researchers found that even with automation, humans are still needed to oversee that automation and require user input. But the researchers cautioned that it is "by no means certain that this pattern will persist into the future."