The 'Two-Speed' Recovery: Why Platform Engineering & EUC Specialists Are Defying the Trend
The 'Two-Speed' Recovery: Why Platform Engineering & EUC Specialists Are Defying the Trend
The New Zealand technology sector is currently navigating a distinct "two-speed" recovery phase. While generalist hiring remains cautious following the economic contraction of 2024, we are seeing aggressive, unmet demand for specialists in Cybersecurity, Cloud Architecture, and Data Engineering.
According to the Robert Half 2025 Salary Guide, while overall salary growth has normalised, highly skilled roles are bucking the trend. Enterprise Architects are commanding packages upwards of NZ$170,000, and contractors specialising in AI and Automation are securing premium rates.
Interestingly, candidate sentiment has shifted. Job security has overtaken salary as the primary driver for 39% of tech professionals. This "Great Retention" dynamic makes headhunting passive talent significantly harder, forcing organisations to double down on internal upskilling to bridge the gap that migration alone cannot fill.
The Rise of Platform Engineering
Paved Roads for Developers
Gartner predicts a massive structural shift in 2025, forecasting that 80% of large software engineering organisations will establish dedicated Platform Engineering teams. The goal is to build internal "paved roads"—curated Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)—that offer self-service capabilities for Kubernetes and cloud resources. This marks the end of the "you build it, you run it" burnout era, replacing it with cognitive load reduction.
AI-Augmented Software Engineering (AIASE)
This shift is heavily influenced by the integration of AI agents that handle infrastructure provisioning and incident response. The operational imperative for 2025 is clear: security teams must now treat AI models as critical infrastructure assets, requiring distinct observability and protection layers.
Critical Security & Updates
The 'Fluent Bit' Vulnerability
Security researchers have disclosed five critical vulnerabilities in Fluent Bit, a telemetry agent deployed over 15 billion times. These flaws allow potential remote code execution or data log poisoning. DevOps teams are urged to patch to version 3.2 immediately to prevent "pipeline poisoning" attacks.
Windows Server 2025 'Hotpatching'
In a significant win for operational continuity, Microsoft has rolled out Hotpatching for Windows Server 2025 via Azure Arc. This allows security updates to be applied in memory without a reboot, significantly reducing downtime windows and operational friction—a game-changer for EUC and Infrastructure Architects.
Tools to Watch
- AWS Bedrock Guardrails – A managed layer of safety for Generative AI applications, now updated with multimodal capabilities to detect toxic content across text and images without custom coding.
- Azure Arc Hotpatching – Now available for physical and virtual machines, this feature reduces maintenance windows by allowing in-memory updates for Windows Server 2025.
- Trend Vision One – A centralised AI exposure management package that provides visibility into "Shadow AI" usage across an enterprise, essential for SecOps governance.
Quick Takes
- The Composable Platform Shift – 2025 will see a move from generic tooling to modular, composable platforms. The focus is on "DevSecOps by Design," where security policies (like stopping unencrypted S3 buckets) are codified directly into platform templates.
- The "Great Retention" – With lower turnover rates driven by a desire for security, employers must offer clear internal mobility and upskilling pathways to retain top-tier talent.
- Streamlined Ops with "Click to Do" – Windows 11 and Server updates now include AI integration that allows Sysadmins to type prompts directly into on-screen text boxes, bridging the gap between GUI management and command-line documentation.