IT Search’s report indicates the trends that dictated the tech landscape throughout 2025 and those likely to cause a stir in the new year.
According to David Shanahan, director at Irish recruitment agency IT Search – which is a member of the Vertical Markets Group – “Ireland’s technology sector performed well overall in 2025”, leading to a landscape in which recruitment is expected to accelerate as we move into 2026.
“Over the past year we have seen digital adoption continuing at pace, with artificial intelligence (AI) now firmly embedded across multiple industry sectors. Ireland’s start-up community also continues to show momentum,” he said.
These were among the key talking points of this year’s IT Search Salary and Market Trends report, which collected data from 633 IT professionals in order to better understand the expected trends and patterns for 2026 in the Irish tech market. So, let’s break it down to see where Ireland’s tech professionals stand in preparation for the year ahead.
Contractor roles and AI opportunities
IT Search’s report indicated that digital adoption and its link with the future of contracted IT roles was a major trend over the course of the last 12 months and will continue to be moving into 2026.
According to Shanahan, one of the more significant trends of 2025 was an increase in contract opportunities, which he explained have “historically been a good indicator of permanent hiring activity”.
He added, “The contractor-first approach is expected to continue into 2026 for major technology programmes such as AI implementation [and] regulatory compliance (NIS2 and DORA). Given the additional flexibility on working arrangements, the minimal downtime and increased financial stability, we anticipate more professionals moving from permanent roles into contracting during 2026.”
Furthermore, despite a difficult landscape that has been impacted by significantly tighter global funding conditions, he noted that many high-tech sectors, for example AI, fintech, climate tech and healthtech, continue to drive innovation and perhaps more importantly, job creation. As a result, Ireland’s start-up community is showing great momentum and “start-ups are expected to account for a significant share of new technology roles in 2026”, he said.
2026 jobs forecast
When it comes to more opportunities, the report found that women are experiencing greater access to roles in the IT and tech space, as it stated, Ireland continues to “outpace the European average in narrowing the gender gap within technology”. It said, women represented more than 24pc of IT professionals in 2024, compared to 19.5pc across the EU, in a “positive indicator of progress”.
Additionally, geographic boundaries were also shown to be less of an issue, as even though Dublin accounted for nearly half (45pc) of all IT roles, Cork (15pc), Galway (10pc) and the rest of the country (30pc) made up the remainder. It also highlighted the expectations around tech roles for 2026.
For example, hiring in the AI and data sector is expected to grow by up to 15pc, in reflection of rapid tech adoption and the need for people skilled in GenAI, machine learning and data governance frameworks.
The report said, “Ireland’s AI, data and analytics sector is entering a phase of maturity and consolidation in 2026. The early rush of experimentation seen in 2023 and 2024, largely evolved into embedding AI across business operations, with a focus on balancing innovation with compliance, governance and measurable ROI.”
Additionally, “Demand is particularly strong for professionals with both AI expertise and domain knowledge, especially in financial services, healthcare, and regulated industries.” For entry level professional salaries can range from €40,000 a year to more than €175,000, or there is a €750-plus day rate for contractors that varies based on work and level of experience.
In the cloud and DevOps space, “2025 was a year of relative stability for cloud and platform engineering, with momentum building noticeably in Q4 as confidence in global markets returned. This means there is now a greater willingness from Irish employers to invest in infrastructure and platform modernisation.”
Hiring is projected to grow by up to 10pc, roughly 80pc of roles will remain hybrid and salaries are expected to range from €50,000 to €135,000, or up to €800 for a day rate for those contracting.
Also expected to expand at pace is the Irish cybersecurity market, which will be driven largely and unsurprisingly by AI-related risks, regulatory compliance, and heightened geopolitical instability.
Shanahan said, “organisations are prioritising cyber resilience at board level, with security architects, cloud security engineers and cybersecurity consultants among the most in-demand roles.” Depending on the role and level of experience salaries will be between €45,000 and €190,000, or a day rate of up to €1,050.
Other career routes shown to be evolving as we edge closer to the new year included software engineering, technology leadership, IT infrastructure, testing quality assurance and product management among others. Indicating a strong and exciting year ahead for job hunters or career movers in the technology and IT sectors.
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