Aspen Technology Labs

06/12/2026

SpaceX lists today on Nasdaq under $SPCX. Job postings have been signaling this moment for 18 months.

After bottoming out at ~700 open roles in mid-2024, hiring has climbed steadily to its highest level on record — up roughly 150% from that trough. The rebound has been faster than the decline: seven consecutive quarters of net expansion, with Q2 2026 tracking +37% year-over-year.

Where is the growth coming from?
Breaking down today's 1,752 open vacancies by program:
→ Starlink: 847 (48%) — global satellite internet constellation, SpaceX's primary revenue engine
→ Starship: 301 (17%) — next-generation fully reusable rocket and Mars program
→ Starshield: 159 (9%) — defense-focused satellite unit
→ Falcon / Dragon + Raptor: 99 (6%) — proven launch vehicles powering the majority of SpaceX missions
→ Corporate / cross-functional: 346 (20%)

Four signals worth watching:
1. Starshield is expanding beyond satellites into custom hardware. Since May 1, we've identified 46 Starshield openings across RF engineering, ASIC design, classified cyber, and AI-enabled defense systems. Roles such as Manager, ASIC Design Engineering (Starshield Silicon), and Lead ASIC Design Verification Engineer indicate growing investment in internally developed silicon.

2. AI hiring is concentrated in classified and infrastructure-focused roles. We've identified 15 AI/ML openings since May 1. Many sit within Special Programs and require Top Secret clearance. Others focus on GPU supply chains, AI hardware, and supporting infrastructure rather than model development.

3. Datacenter hiring is accelerating. Recent postings include a Director of Datacenter Operations, Kubernetes SREs, networking and optics specialists, HVAC/chiller experts, and AI hardware operations roles. Following the February 2026 xAI merger, these positions appear to be hiring through SpaceX organizations rather than under a standalone xAI brand.

4. SpaceX may be manufacturing its own solar cells. A cluster of postings tied to Starlink/Akoustis — water treatment engineers for a solar cell factory, BAW device engineers, manufacturing supervisors — suggests in-house solar cell production for Starlink satellites.

We'll keep tracking. Follow for updates as the hiring data evolves post-IPO.

Data sourced from Aspen Tech Labs’ JobsIndex, which has job postings from over 300,000 corporate career sites.

06/03/2026

Stock prices reflect results. Hiring reflects strategy.

Ahead of this week's earnings, here's what job posting data is signaling:

- PANW – Hiring up strongly. 1,256 live roles and accelerating.
- AVGO – Long-term growth, slight recent cooldown. AI demand still robust.
- CRWD – Hiring down, stock up. AI efficiency is replacing headcount.
- LULU – Hiring recovering. Stock still well below prior levels.
- MDT – Near multi-year hiring lows. Consistent with weak share performance.

The divergences matter. Workforce investment — or restraint — often shows up in job postings before it shows up in earnings commentary.

👉 Reach out to learn more about Aspen Tech Labs' Hiring Signals across public companies.

06/02/2026

The national hiring story in 2026 is soft. US job postings down 2.0% YoY. 44 of 51 states in decline.

But four cities are posting vacancy growth that looks nothing like the trend.

And the employers driving it aren't responding to the economic cycle. They're responding to capital commitments — in defense, AI infrastructure, and logistics — that operate on an entirely different clock.

One metro is up 21.9% YoY. Another has contractors hiring at +545%. A third saw a single employer go from 64 open roles to 427 in twelve months.

None of these markets are on most people's radar. That's exactly what makes them interesting.

The hiring map has been redrawn. The question is whether you're working from the new one or the old one.

Full analysis in the latest blog, powered by Aspen Tech Labs' JobMarketPulse data, via Job Board Doctor 👇
https://bit.ly/3PBbNI7

And then there is this one. Hermiston-Pendleton, Oregon, has the strongest growth of any market in this analysis at +21.9% year over year, and the data behind

05/27/2026

AI, data centers, and M&A are driving some of the sharpest hiring divergences we've seen among public companies this year.

This week's highlights from Aspen Tech Labs' JobMarketPulse data span software, semiconductors, industrials, and building products.

The standouts:

🔵 WESCO International (WCC) — 607 live roles | +13.8% mid-term | +121% stock YoY
Record Q1 sales of $6.1B, with data center revenue up ~70%. Hiring and stock momentum are moving in lockstep.

🔵 Air Products (APD) — 334 live roles | +5.1% short-term, +18.7% mid-term | +17.2% stock YTD
Raised full-year EPS guidance and a major Samsung semiconductor supply deal. Hiring recovery is accelerating.

🔵 Semtech (SMTC) — 112 live roles | +30.7% mid-term | +325% stock YoY
Record FY2026 sales of $1.05B. One of the strongest hiring and stock alignment stories in the market right now.

🔵 QXO (QXO) — 549 live roles | +7.7% short-term, +31.4% mid-term | -9.7% stock YTD
Rapid M&A scaling — $2.25B Kodiak deal and a planned ~$17B TopBuild acquisition. Hiring is surging. Market sentiment hasn't caught up yet.

🔵 3M (MMM) — 649 live roles | +3.3% short-term, +4.5% mid-term | +3.1% stock YoY
Gradual recovery, with portfolio restructuring and margin stabilization supporting cautious hiring growth.

The companies under pressure:

🔵 Agilent (A) — 318 live roles | -2.1% short-term, -7.8% mid-term | -15.2% stock YTD
Multi-quarter workforce reductions continuing as the lab equipment market recovers more slowly than expected.

🔵 UiPath (PATH) — 79 live roles | -0.5% short-term, -27.5% mid-term | -31.7% stock YTD
Product innovation is real. But hiring and market signals remain firmly under pressure.

The pattern across this group is consistent: hiring often reflects strategic intent well before it shows up in earnings commentary.

If you'd like deeper hiring signals across public companies, reach out for a free demo.

05/25/2026

Colorado ranked 5th in the nation for job vacancy growth in Q1 2026 — and the data tells an encouraging story.

The Colorado Chamber Foundation and Aspen Technology Labs have released the Q1 2026 Colorado Jobs Report, and the state's labor market is showing real resilience.

Key findings:

- Job postings rose 11.9% QoQ, outpacing the national increase of 9.4%
- Median full-time salary climbed to $66,560 — above the national median and up 4% year-over-year
- Colorado Springs led the state with 16% quarterly vacancy growth, followed by Greeley (+15.7%) and Boulder (+14.1%)
- Education postings surged 39.9% in Q1, the strongest growth of any job category
- Child care roles proved notably stable, falling just 0.7% year-over-year despite broader market softness

The picture is of employers becoming more deliberate — pairing focused hiring with competitive wages to attract the right candidates.

While total postings remain modestly below year-ago levels, Colorado's quarterly momentum is running ahead of most other states.

Read the full Q1 2026 Colorado Jobs Report here:
https://bit.ly/4tV3Vz8

👉 Interested in what's happening in your state or sector? Aspen Tech Labs builds custom labor market reports tailored to your company's needs. Get in touch to find out more.

05/21/2026

Taligence's latest report is out, and the marketing labor market is telling a different story to the broader economy.

While overall US job growth softened 2.1% in our latest quarterly report, in-house marketing hiring is moving in the opposite direction.

From Aspen Tech Labs data cited in the report:

- 39,248 in-house marketing jobs currently open across the US
- Up 11.6% year-over-year
- Director-level and above roles up 20.9% year-over-year

That's a meaningful divergence from the broader market.

The roles featured this week add some texture to what that demand actually looks like at the top end:

- NYU hiring a VP of Global Enrollment Marketing at up to $485K — essentially a brand-trust and global positioning role for an American institution navigating geopolitical headwinds
- NVIDIA posting a Senior Director of Policy Marketing at up to $460K + equity — marketing as geopolitical translation
- Superhuman seeking a Director of Enterprise Product Marketing at up to $335K — enterprise AI trust management

The throughline: senior marketing roles are expanding in scope, not contracting. AI anxiety, geopolitical complexity, and enterprise adoption challenges are creating demand for operators who can do more than run campaigns.

Full edition here:
https://bit.ly/49cLhLG

Ft. NYU, Nvidia, Superhuman, Culture Amp, Schneider Electric, and On

05/20/2026

40 leaders. One class. And Lana Shumyn is in it. 🎉

TAtech Honors recognizes the people actually shaping the future of talent acquisition and talent technology, awarded by the only global community of AI-powered TA solutions, talent tech companies, and job boards in the world.

Lana joins a class of honorees who are treating talent technology as what it actually is: a discipline with its own tools, its own science, and its own trajectory.

We're incredibly proud. Congratulations, Lana — Summer 2026 Class, well deserved. 🏆

05/19/2026

Veritone's Q1 2026 Labor Market Analysis is out, and the numbers point to a clear inflection point for AI hiring.

55,374 AI-related job openings in Q1. A 17.9% jump from Q4 2025 and 36% higher than a year ago, while the broader labor market was still recovering from its weakest year of job gains since 2020.

What the data is telling us:

- AI/ML Engineers remain the most in-demand role, up 26.2% QoQ to 19,297 vacancies
- AI/ML Architects surged 35.3% in Q1 alone — and 196.5% year-over-year
- Big Data Engineers contracted 25.2%, as AI platforms absorb what used to be manual work
- Agentic AI titles have emerged from near-zero just 18 months ago
- Median AI salaries hit $162,240 — a 22% premium over non-AI IT roles

The geographic story is just as interesting. Idaho led all states with 68.9% growth in AI job openings. South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida all posted gains above 39%.

This isn't experimentation anymore. Companies are building the engineering and governance infrastructure to deploy AI at scale, and hiring reflects it.

Full Q1 2026 analysis here:
https://bit.ly/4u3s1YJ

👉 Interested in what's happening in your specific sector or region? Aspen Tech Labs builds custom labor market reports tailored to your company's needs. Get in touch to find out more.

Q1 2026 marks a turning point for AI hiring, with rapid growth driven by demand for engineers, architects, and leaders building AI at scale.

05/13/2026

April's UK job market looked quiet. It wasn't.

Our May 2026 JobMarketPulse UK update is live. A few things caught our attention this month:
📍 One region accounts for nearly a fifth of all UK vacancies, and it's pulling further ahead
💰 IT salaries are leading the market at £55,006, almost double what Retail pays
📉 Entry-level postings are slipping as youth unemployment reaches its highest point since 2015
♻️ EMR has been on an uninterrupted upward trajectory since November, and just hit a 12-month high
🏗️ Turner & Townsend added nearly 1,000 vacancies in a year. Data centers are driving it.

The numbers that matter rarely make the headlines. That's why we dig.

One region drives nearly a fifth of all UK job postings. In April, it recorded the strongest absolute growth among all UK regions.

05/12/2026

When someone builds this level of analysis using our data, it's worth sharing.

Kamba Group published a detailed Q1 2026 labor market discrepancy report using our JobMarketPulse data alongside official BLS releases. The findings are worth reading carefully.

A few things stood out to us:
The March headline of +178,000 jobs looks strong. But 76,000 of those were healthcare workers returning from strikes. Strip that out, and the underlying job creation was roughly 102,000, barely matching population growth, while 396,000 people left the labor force entirely.

The revision pattern is what we find most telling. Ten of the last eleven monthly payroll prints have been revised downward. The annual benchmark revision erased 898,000 jobs, the largest since 2009. Our real-time data captured that directional weakness earlier because it tracks employer intent daily directly from career sites, without the survey lags that affect official estimates.

The wage bifurcation Kamba surfaces is also something our data reflects clearly. Advertised full-time salaries are up 4.3%. Advertised hourly wages are up just 1.4%, well below 3.3% CPI. The BLS average of +3.5% sits in between and tells neither story accurately.

This is exactly what real-time job posting data is built for: providing a transparent, daily signal of employer intent that complements official releases, especially when those releases keep getting rewritten.

Full Kamba analysis linked in the comments. Well worth the read.

👉 Follow Aspen Tech Labs for ongoing labor market insights, or reach out for a demo of JobMarketPulse.

https://bit.ly/3Pd5UR8

A systematic comparison of Aspen Tech Labs' JobMarketPulse (JMP) real-time data against official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases reveals a labor market that is materially weaker than headline government figures suggest. The BLS has revised 10 of its last 11 monthly payroll prints downward,...