SignalHire, a B2B contact intelligence platform, has released its Global Jobs Report comparing recruiter search patterns between January-April 2025 and the same period in 2026. The analysis of tens of thousands of searches reveals dramatic shifts that signal where talent acquisition is heading.
The most striking finding is the surge in demand for physical therapy professionals. Recruiter searches for Physical Therapist grew 1,473% year over year, while Physical Therapist Assistant searches skyrocketed 5,717%. These numbers challenge official forecasts that describe the physical therapy shortage as a future problem. "Recruiter behavior treats it as a current one," the report states. Hiring managers are not waiting for projections to materialize; they are sourcing ahead because candidates take time to find, approach, and convert. The competition for physical therapy talent in 2026 is significantly more intense than any published forecast currently reflects.
Conversely, searches for Software Engineer fell 68% globally year over year, with a 75% decline in the UK. This does not indicate a reduction in technical hiring but rather a shift toward specificity. Java Developer searches rose 3,257% in the UK, and QA and Software Test Engineer searches increased 567%. Hiring managers are now searching for specific technical expertise rather than general coding capacity, reflecting the reality that AI tools have absorbed many tasks previously covered by the broad "software engineer" title.
The report also notes a structural point beneath these trends: the window between now and when these trends become widely visible in public data is the critical period for talent acquisition teams. The market is sorting, and the data shows where it is going. The question for sourcing operations is whether they are positioned to move with it.
SignalHire provides access to over 850 million verified professional profiles with real-time email and phone verification. The platform serves sales, recruiting, and marketing teams globally through its database, browser extension, API, and Data Enrichment workflows. For more details, visit their blog.
