AI Firms Embrace 'Member of Technical Staff' Job Title

The job title "member of technical staff" (MTS) is experiencing a significant surge in adoption across major artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. This once-obscure designation is now being applied to a wide spectrum of employees, from seasoned senior engineers with over a decade of experience and former C-suite executives to junior staff early in their careers. The trend was highlighted in a recent New York Times report, which cited an analysis by Stanford University researchers Nick Bloom and Gideon Slocum Moore. According to the Times' findings, in December 2025, 39% of employees at Anthropic used the MTS title on LinkedIn, followed by 31% at OpenAI and 26% at xAI. Over the past year, the use of this title has seen a notable increase of 50% among employees at OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Microsoft AI. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have articulated that the adoption of the MTS title serves to diminish the traditional hierarchy between researchers and engineers. This approach aims to place these roles on a more equal footing, moving away from historical practices where researchers with PhDs were often elevated above other technical staff. The choice of "member of technical staff" also appears to be a deliberate nod to the legacy of Bell Labs, a renowned research center that widely utilized this job title in the past. The appeal of the MTS designation extends beyond the leading AI research labs. Several AI companies are incorporating this terminology into their job listings, potentially as a strategy to cultivate a specific employer brand or to efficiently signal the caliber of talent they are seeking. Elizabeth Eley, an assistant professor at McGill University specializing in organizational behavior and human resource management, notes that the distinctive characteristic of the MTS title is its lack of inherent distinctiveness. However, she posits that the term effectively communicates a commitment to technical contribution and collaborative work within an organization. This broad applicability allows companies to consolidate various technical roles under a single, unifying title, fostering a sense of shared purpose and technical identity among their workforce. The strategic use of the MTS title by AI firms reflects a broader shift in how technical talent is valued and categorized within the rapidly evolving tech landscape, emphasizing collective expertise and contribution over rigid hierarchical structures.