Nov 04,2025 
Your product management career won’t disappear tomorrow, but the job you’re doing now looks nothing like what product managers did five years ago. Companies still need people who can connect customer problems to business outcomes, but they want those people to understand AI, work across continents, and drive sustainability initiatives while they’re at it. The comfortable generalist role that once defined product management has given way to something more demanding and more technical.
The numbers tell two different stories depending on where you look. India’s product management hiring jumped 42% year over year in 2025, according to the Institute of Product Leadership. Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and PayPal ran 110 campus hiring events there, looking for product leaders who combine market insight with technical fluency and data analysis skills. Meanwhile, Europe’s hiring dropped 14% for the same period, based on Ravio’s October 2025 Compensation Trends report. Companies there stopped hiring externally but increased existing product manager salaries by 5.2%, more than most other functions received.
The Market Splits Between Growth and Caution
Product managers in the US earn an average of $126,000 at mid-level positions, with senior roles reaching $152,000 and chief product officers making upward of $232,000, according to Product School’s 2024 salary data. New York City product managers average $105,000, while those at leading tech firms pull in $175,000. UK salaries tell a similar story, with mid-level positions paying £67,000 and senior roles reaching £109,100.
These salary increases happen against a backdrop of selective hiring. Recruited’s April 2025 analysis found 2.6 million people identifying as product managers on LinkedIn but only 23,000 open positions, down 12% from May 2024. During tech layoffs since Q3 2022, product managers were 2.56 times more likely to lose their jobs than engineers. Companies stopped mass hiring and started looking for specific skills.
AI Changes Everything About the Role
Product management jobs related to artificial intelligence multiplied in 2025. Lenny’s Newsletter reports that open PM positions in AI are “exploding,” with companies making AI product leadership their top hiring priority. Google and Microsoft both stated in public hiring updates that AI product management now forms the core of their product teams. Job listings require candidates to demonstrate proficiency in generative AI, prompt engineering, and ethical product development.
The bar for technical literacy rose across the board. Nearly every meaningful product launch in 2025 includes an AI component. Companies want product managers who can develop and commercialize AI features, not people who treat machine learning as a black box. Parallel HQ’s 2025 guide notes that chief product officer and group product manager roles prioritize candidates who have shipped AI-powered features and led teams across data science, engineering, and design.
Remote Work Reshapes Career Paths
Product management went global when companies normalized remote work. Startups and enterprises alike now run asynchronous cross-border workflows, and product managers who excel at remote collaboration get hired faster. Regional salary differences narrowed as remote-first companies standardized pay around market benchmarks, though San Francisco and New York still offer premium compensation.
The dual-track career model became standard at leading tech employers. Senior individual contributor roles now have parity with management tracks. Principal product managers and product leads earn as much as their director peers, sometimes more. Group Product Managers in the US make an average of $195,000, with principal and chief product officer roles regularly exceeding $230,000 per year.
Industries Demand Different Skills
Tech companies want product managers with deep expertise in AI, cloud infrastructure, and security. Finance and fintech firms need people who understand regulatory requirements, security protocols, and customer experience design. Consumer and ecommerce companies look for data science skills, customer lifecycle design expertise, and personalization capabilities. Industrial, automotive, and manufacturing sectors created new product categories around sustainability, IoT, and smart devices, requiring product managers who blend engineering insights with product launch skills.
Sustainability and ESG entered the core job specification for product managers across industries. Companies hire for roles at the intersection of product development and responsible tech, expecting product managers to drive data privacy, ethical AI, and social impact outcomes alongside commercial ones. This expansion requires new certifications, training, and qualifications that now appear in job postings and recruiter requirements.
The Supply Problem Gets Worse
Product management faces a supply and demand imbalance. More people want these jobs than companies have positions available. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 10% growth for product management roles through 2024, driven by ecommerce expansion and traditional industry transformation. LinkedIn data showed PM roles grew by 33% from 2017 to 2019, with related functions like product design and product marketing growing up to 86% per year.
Yet current hiring remains flat. Companies prefer to “do more with less,” requiring product managers to operate with greater cross-functional expertise and resilience. Employers shifted from headcount expansion to recruiting hybrid-skilled people with advanced technical literacy, business acumen, and deep understanding of emerging technologies.
Retention Beats Recruitment
While external hiring slowed, internal promotions and salary increases for existing product managers remained strong. European attrition rates for product managers fell 13%, and average tenure rose 22% to almost three years. Companies invest heavily in retaining and promoting their current product managers, as shown by resilient promotion rates.
This retention focus signals that companies value experienced product managers but hesitate to take risks on external candidates. Product managers who stay with their companies see career advancement and salary growth. Those looking for new positions face competition from thousands of other candidates for each open role.
Skills That Actually Matter Now
Employers want product managers with technical literacy in AI, APIs, and data analysis. They need people who can manage stakeholders and remote teams effectively. Domain-specific expertise in fintech, ESG, or healthcare separates candidates from the pack. Companies value product analytics and growth experimentation skills, along with full-stack product launch experience across design, engineering, and go-to-market functions.
Communication remains fundamental, but companies now expect product managers to drive ethical and sustainable product outcomes. The generalist who could coordinate between teams no longer meets employer needs. Product managers must bring specialized knowledge and technical capabilities to their roles.
Regional Differences Define Opportunities
India’s 42% year-over-year growth in product management hiring concentrated at senior and leadership levels. Companies there invest in product leaders who combine multiple skill sets. Entry-level roles see modest growth, as employers favor candidates with both traditional and emerging tech skills. Mid-level product managers in India earn 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 INR, with senior leaders earning considerably more.
Europe’s market stabilized after recent volatility. The 14% drop in hiring paired with strong retention and salary growth suggests companies found their optimal team sizes. UK product managers saw their average tenure increase while maintaining competitive salaries relative to other European markets.
What This Means for Your Career
Product management isn’t dying. The profession redefined itself for a new era of business. Organizations prioritize technical, AI-first, and industry-specific expertise. Product managers who lead remote and cross-disciplinary teams find more opportunities. Those who upskill in AI, sustainability, and hybrid leadership will continue finding rewarding careers.
The market for generalist product managers grows more competitive each month. Specialized product managers with next-generation skills face increasing demand. Companies pay premiums for people who combine traditional product management capabilities with technical depth and domain expertise. Product management transformed from a coordination role into a technical leadership position. Those who adapt to this reality will prosper. Those who cling to outdated definitions of the role will struggle to find their next opportunity.
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