More optimism may be creeping back in but there's still a lot more hesitancy, caution, and conservatism in my experience than there was for much of the last decade+ (except probably in AI which is pretty hot overall). It's also not clear how hiring is distributed by seniority. On the one hand, I hear that things are tougher for junior people without networks. On the other hand, I hear that filling slots opened up by attrition are tending to go to more junior/cheaper people.