The Tech Hiring Freeze Isn't Ending—And Your Plan B Just Became Plan A
If you're waiting for tech hiring to bounce back before you make a move, you've already missed the window.
The tech hiring freeze has been going for 18 months. Job postings are down 36% from pre-COVID levels. Layoffs keep coming. And everyone keeps saying "it'll turn around next quarter."
It won't.
Here's what nobody wants to say: this isn't a freeze, it's a reset. The companies that are hiring aren't bringing back the same roles they cut. They're not rebuilding the same teams. They're running leaner, paying less, and expecting more.
For ANZ sales professionals, this means three things:
First, the US playbook is dead. The "land a BDR role at a Silicon Valley tech company, grind for 18 months, promote to AE, make $200k" path has closed. Those companies aren't hiring BDRs in Sydney anymore. They're using AI SDRs or consolidating into offshore teams. If you're still optimising your career around that model, you're optimising for 2021.
Second, enterprise is the only game worth playing. SMB and mid-market SaaS roles are getting automated or eliminated. The deals that still need humans are complex, high-touch enterprise sales. If you're carrying an SMB quota right now, start building enterprise relationships yesterday. That's where the comp—and the job security—still exists.
Third, comp is resetting. $180k OTE for an AE role used to be standard. Now it's competitive. Companies know there are 10 qualified candidates for every open role, and they're pricing accordingly. If you're holding out for pre-2022 comp, you're going to be holding out for a long time.
The hiring freeze isn't ending because it was never really a freeze. It's a structural shift. The sales roles that survived aren't coming back the way they were. The only question is whether you're adapting faster than the market is changing.
What to do: Stop waiting for tech hiring to recover. Start looking at non-tech enterprise sales roles—fintech, logistics, industrial tech. The comp is real, the deals are complex, and the companies are actually hiring. The tech freeze thawed for some people. Just not the ones still refreshing LinkedIn.