Outplacement in IT and software

IT and software keep growing — while undergoing a deep shift. Artificial intelligence is changing software development, business models and organisational structures. Companies keep investing in cloud, cybersecurity, data and AI, but need different competency profiles than a few years ago.

The German market for information technology and telecommunications is expected to grow to €246.4 billion in 2026 — up 4.1% — and the number of people employed in the digital sector is set to rise to around 1.36 million. At first glance a success story. Yet here lies the peculiarity: a growing IT sector can simultaneously cut, automate or fundamentally change individual IT functions.

According to a Bitkom study, 27% of companies expect AI to lead to IT job cuts; at the same time, 42% expect additional demand for IT specialists from AI, and 16% see AI as a way to fill roles that could not be staffed anyway. So IT and software are growing — but the demands on the people change rapidly.

Why IT and software are in structural change

A few years ago, software development was mainly about programming skill, architecture and project management. Today AI can already generate, test and document code and analyse existing systems. According to Bitkom, the software industry faces a fundamental change to its business models — away from development hours and licences, towards measurable results.

It is not the ability to produce code that will disappear. But the ability to achieve more impact with less effort becomes the decisive competitive advantage.

For developers this means no swap of human for machine, but a changed role: the value contribution shifts from pure implementation towards architecture, problem-solving, system understanding, quality, security, and product and business understanding.

The IT sector grows — but not every IT job equally

Demand is shifting. Especially sought after are profiles at the interfaces of AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, software, automation and business processes, while standardisable activities come under greater automation pressure. This shows among tech start-ups too: according to a Bitkom survey, 27% refrained from new hiring because of AI and 7% cut jobs, while 16% hired additional staff.

AI does not simply lead to less employment. It changes what work companies buy and which competencies they need internally.

Your market value is greater than your job title

In IT especially, a too-narrow positioning is a risk. A "Senior Software Developer" is classically positioned as "15 years of Java development". A broader view instead shows system architecture, cloud, legacy modernisation, agile transformation, technical leadership and stakeholder management — transferable to solution architecture, engineering management, digital transformation, platform engineering or technology consulting.

The decisive question is not "Which programming language do I master?" but "Which complex technological problems can I solve for a company?"

A "Head of IT" often combines IT strategy, cloud transformation, cybersecurity, cost optimisation, vendor management, M&A integration, organisational development and change management — a profile relevant in industry, finance, healthcare, energy, automotive, logistics and consulting. The IT experience is not abandoned but translated into cross-industry transformation competence.

Which competencies become more important

• AI competence — not only AI engineering, but the ability to integrate AI meaningfully into products, processes and organisations.
• Cloud and platforms — central building blocks of the digital economy.
• Cybersecurity — with growing digital dependence, the economic value of IT security rises.
• Data engineering and AI — AI is only as good as data quality and architecture.
• Product thinking and business understanding — connecting technology with revenue, cost, customers and business models.
• Change management — the speed of transformation makes change competence a core qualification.

Which target markets come into question

The great strength of IT competence is its industry independence:

Experience from IT & software	Conceivable target markets
Software development	cross-industry
Cloud	industry, finance, healthcare, energy
Cybersecurity	finance, industry, energy, infrastructure
Data science / AI	retail, pharma, industry, healthcare
IT project management	cross-industry
Enterprise architecture	industry, finance, healthcare
Product management	technology, industry, FinTech, HealthTech
IT operations	industry, energy, logistics
Digital transformation	cross-industry
IT leadership	almost all larger companies

Changing industry can be especially attractive: those who combine technology + domain knowledge + business understanding — such as SAP + supply chain, AI + pharma or cloud + critical infrastructure — hold a profile harder to copy than someone with purely generic IT experience.

A different logic applies to executives

A CIO, CTO or VP Engineering is judged not primarily by technical detail but by technology and digital strategy, transformation, cost steering, organisational development, M&A, cybersecurity, scaling and international leadership. "CTO of a software company" can become: "Technology leader with experience in scaling digital business models, AI transformation and international organisational development."

The decisive shift is: from "technology owner" to "shaper of digital value creation".

What affected professionals should do after job cuts

1. Analyse your competency profile. Which skills do I have beyond my previous technology?
2. Quantify impact. Reduced development times, delivered cloud migration, cut costs, raised availability, built teams, scaled products?
3. Assess your AI capability. How does AI change my own activity profile?
4. Define target markets. Which companies need my combination of technology and business competence?
5. Sharpen your positioning. Which problem can I solve better than others?
6. Choose the market access. Especially for executives, networking, executive search, referrals and direct approaches matter — the core of our KARENT PLACEMENT approach.

What professional outplacement consulting can achieve

For IT and software specialists, technologies change very quickly — a profile in demand three years ago can be less attractive today. Professional outplacement helps to determine market value not only in retrospect but with a view to the future labour market: assessment, future-oriented competency analysis, target-market analysis, repositioning, executive positioning, and network and interview strategy.

IT grows — but the IT career changes

The German digital economy remains a growth area, but AI is transforming the sector itself: software development becomes more efficient, business models change, cloud and AI become the standard, cybersecurity gains importance, technology and business grow closer together.

It is not the technology someone mastered five years ago that alone decides their future market value — what matters is the contribution they can make with technology today and tomorrow.

Job cuts in IT do not automatically mean that your expertise is no longer in demand. They can be a signal that your competency mix needs to be retranslated for the next market.