Prompt engineering was considered the trendiest job in 2023, promising job security and a six-figure salary. By 2025, the hype is over, and the job is no longer in demand.
In 2022, the American company OpenAI launched the Chatbot ChatGPT, generating a massive AI hype. The big developments also meant that one job suddenly became very important: “Prompt engineering.”
Prompt engineering was considered the trendiest job in the entire tech industry in 2023 and was partly advertised with annual salaries of $300,000.
However, by 2025, two years later, this role is basically fulfilled, thanks to the rapid development of AI and companies adapting to the use of the technology. This is reported by the English-language Wall Street Journal (may have paywall), quoting Jared Spataro, Chief Marketing Officer of “AI at Work” at Microsoft:
Two years ago, everyone said, ‘Oh, I think prompt engineering will be the trendy job.’ That has not proven to be the case at all.
Prompt Engineering: 2023 the big hype, now basically done.
What exactly is prompt engineering? The concept behind the job was to have an expert who made precisely the right inputs to generate the best answers from large language models. In IT, a prompt is a request to the user to provide input. With a prompt, you typically give a task to be followed and can, like a user, earn 1,200 euros per day.
What is the problem? The problem is that AI has rapidly advanced in recent years: Today, AI models are much better at recognizing user intent and can ask follow-up questions if they are unsure. Today, a perfectly tailored prompt is no longer necessary to harness the full potential of AI.
Moreover, many companies are now training their employees on how to best work with AI. Therefore, in most cases, it is no longer necessary for a single person to possess this expertise.
Especially in the current situation, where many are under pressure due to growing economic uncertainty and tight budgets, many companies are hiring significantly fewer people anyway. Furthermore, some companies have found it cheaper and more effective to teach their employees prompting skills rather than hire dedicated employees with those skills.
AI tools like ChatGPT have revolutionized the professional lives of many people. It is no wonder that many fear that developments will lead to some losing their jobs to artificial intelligence soon: The inventor of ChatGPT reveals which 34 jobs AI will never replace
