Brendon Bernard argues in Indeed Hiring Lab that emerging markets have avoided most of the tech hiring freeze

Brendon Bernard argues in Indeed Hiring Lab that emerging markets have avoided most of the tech hiring freeze

Brendon Bernard’s analysis was published on October 15, 2025. He argues that tech job postings in emerging market economies have held up better than in advanced economies, but have cooled from their peak and weakened relative to other occupations within emerging markets. Bernard reports that postings in the emerging markets tracked by Indeed remained above pre-pandemic levels, with India accounting for most of the increase. He says the growing share of global postings in emerging markets could partly reflect outsourcing, but job-title comparisons suggest outsourcing was a subtle, not primary, driver: roles that weakened most in the US were also relatively weak in emerging markets. Bernard’s conclusion is that workers in emerging markets have not faced the same hiring freeze as those in the US and other advanced economies, but that the tech market there is still cooling. He says trends weighing on demand in advanced economies are probably affecting the rest of the world too, and that the chill could linger unless global trends turn around. He also points to potential AI-related automation ahead; the analysis does not establish what it will mean for employment.

Publication: 5aff9931-2992-9d3d-2da8-7304e533a7ef

attribution — pass: The reading correctly attributes the analysis to Brendon Bernard at Indeed Hiring Lab, and keeps the claims about postings, outsourcing and the chill as his. The page is one authored analysis, not a listing. The trailing carousel of related titles is not used.

By Brendon Bernard October 15, 2025

summary — pass: The summary leads with Bernard's argument: emerging-market tech postings held up better but have cooled. It keeps his hedged outsourcing conclusion and his warning that the chill could linger. Terms such as emerging markets, advanced economies, postings and outsourcing are understandable to a general reader. The question follows from the source's own uncertainty about outsourcing and does not lead the reader.

suggests perhaps a subtle, but not primary, role of outsourcing as a driver of the divergence.

date — pass: The displayed date of October 15, 2025 matches the source dateline at day precision. The page was modified on 2025-10-30, but the cited passages are core article findings with data dated before publication, so they are plainly part of the original. The source gives the 47% figure as of October 3 in its key points and as of August in its body. That is the source's own inconsistency, and the reading avoids it. There is no hindsight framing, and AI automation is kept as a potential.

Taken together, tech postings in EMEs were still up 47% from their pre-pandemic level as of August 2025.

support — pass: Each claim matches its excerpt: postings remain above pre-pandemic levels, the emerging-market share rose to 28%, outsourcing is likely subtle, and the chill could linger. India as the main contributor is source-stated. The limitations reflect the source: eight emerging markets, and company-level analysis is out of scope. The note that the analysis does not establish AI's employment effects is appropriately hedged.

Tech postings in India, which account for about three-quarters of total EME tech postings, were the main contributor to the overall increase, up 45%.

media — pass: No media is selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied, so no invented or mismatched media is attached.