Forty-five percent of Americans are concerned about their personal finances, and are most worried about their financial future, including not having enough money to retire (68%), keeping up with the cost of living (56%), and managing their debt levels (45%).

A new Retirement Readiness Report has also found that 62% of U.S. workers say their finances cause them moderate to significant anxiety.

Top financial concerns include inflation and increased cost of living (62%), credit card debt (34%), housing costs (31%), and medical bills or debt (25%). Only 20% reported feeling “very financially stable”.

Fears around job losses and labor market instability are causing Americans to look at their bottom line. Only 30% of workers are highly satisfied with their pay, according to Pew Research Center.

5 jobs to discover this week

• Manager, Software Engineering – ServiceNow, Options Clearing Corporation, Chicago ($129,700 – $178,200)
• Lead Data Engineer – Big Data, S&P Global, Dayton ($118,094 – $237,100)
• Cloud Architect, Wipro, Dallas ($110,000 – $130,000)
• Software Developer, ENSCO, Inc., Williamsburg ($100,000 – $200,000)
• Software Engineer (Informatica, PL/SQL, Java), The Maxis Group, Remote ($90,000 – $160,000)

Another survey has found that 56% of Americans intend to pursue new job opportunities in 2025, with 27% saying their job search is already underway. Gallup data backs this up with its measure in May finding that 51% of employees are watching or actively seeking a new job.

Thanks to a widening skills shortage, software engineers don’t generally have to look too far for a new role on better money.

According to CBRE, “Strong demand for AI software and hardware developers has resulted in higher wages in top tech talent markets. Tech industry wages are 17% higher than the U.S. average and software developers at tech companies saw wages increase 12% year-over-year, despite layoffs in the sector”.

But this also means that software developers are competing with each other for the best dev jobs, so what can you do to get out ahead of your competition? One clue lies in the adoption of AI.

A recent piece of research from BairesDev which surveyed more than 500 software engineers found that 72% of engineers are leveraging generative AI in their software development process. Another 48% use generative AI every single day, but despite this, 40% don’t think it has freed up time for them to accomplish other tasks.

5 more software jobs

• Principal, Data Analytics Engineering, Options Clearing Corporation, Chicago ($156,600 – $209,900)
• Sr. Information Architect – Ratings Data Technology Lead (Hybrid), S&P Global, New York ($89,000 – $150,000)
• Experienced Software Engineer Java / Python (Full Stack or Back End), JPMorganChase, Columbus
• Associate Cloud Engineer (5514), MetroStar, Fort Belvoir
• Senior Cloud Application Developer, ST Engineering iDirect, Herndon

One of those tasks is job hunting. Generative AI has a lot to offer time-pressured developers who want a new role, but are put off by the process.

Resume builders can help you to create tailored resumes that highlight your skills and experiences effectively, and which will also pass applicant tracking systems (ATS) by helping you to incorporate relevant keywords.

You can use AI to generate personalized cover letters, or ask tools like Perplexity for feedback to refine your resume and cover letter, all the better to enhance them for clarity and professionalism.

Prompt ChatGPT for interview questions for specific roles, and it’ll give you tailored questions, helping you to better prepare. You can also use tools such as AI Blaze, a Chrome extension, to automate and submit job applications, saving yourself time and effort.

Agentic AI

Robin from Amply is available on the VentureBeat Job Board (look for it popping up on the bottom right hand side of the page), and is a conversational AI job search agent designed to help you locate your next tech position, fast.

You can search for best-matched jobs using your resume, or chat to it, telling Robin about your skills, career aspirations, and preferred work environment. Through agentic AI, this simplifies your job search by instantly identifying relevant roles, helping you bypass endless scrolling.

This represents a game-changer for job seekers. One of its big bonuses is you can ask questions you might not feel comfortable asking a hiring manager, such as information about benefits, and early enquiries about pay scales.

Agentic AI is being adopted by leading organizations, so expect to see it pop up on career page windows more and more. Microsoft, for example, recently unveiled a number of new AI agents across its Microsoft 365 suite.

“The best way to think about these are just as your teammates,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. So when it comes to accelerating your job search, Robin may be the edge you need to get ahead of your competition.

Ready to find your next job in tech? Visit the VentureBeat Job Board today to discover thousands of roles in companies actively hiring.