How many jobs are available in technology in the US?

The unemployment rate for technology jobs in the US ticked down for the second month in a row in April, as the number of job listings for AI-related positions leaped to 11% of all postings, according to new employment data. And, 26% of all tech job postings in April were for positions in emerging tech or that require emerging tech skills, according to CompTIA, a nonprofit tech trade association. 

Emerging skills include AI, blockchain, IoT, augmented & virtual reality. “None of these individually are generating huge volumes of job openings today, but we feel it’s worth paying attention to,” a CompTIA spokesperson said.

Employers listed nearly 179,000 new postings for tech positions last month. In total, there were an estimated 415,000 active tech job postings.

The unemployment rate for tech jobs inched down from 4% in March to 3.8% in April. That compares to the February figure of 4.5%. according to CompTIA data, which is based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest jobs report.

The BLS on Friday reported that the overall US unemployment rate (3.9%) remained largely unchanged from March, when it was 3.8%. Overall unemployment has ranged between 3.7% and 3.9% since August 2023, according to the BLS. The agency said 175,000 jobs were added in April.

Ger Doyle, head of recruitment service Experis North America, said his organization is seeing “a cooling effect” in the job market. “Our real-time data paints a picture of a job market that is balancing out. We see increased demand in April in medical/health (16%), IT (11%) and executive management (7%), and all have shown growth from Q4 2023,” Doyle said.

Within tech, AI Safety and Compliance roles have seen a sizable increase (129%) since July 2023. “Employers are also raising expectations around IT skill sets for executives and legal functions, and AI/ML engineers are now expected to showcase a blend of technical and soft skills to remain competitive in the job market,” Doyle said.

CompTIA

 For college graduates, the road is tougher, according to Doyle; they’re dealing with an unemployment rate of 6.2%. That trend coincides with employees holding onto their current positions for longer durations, which aligns with a dip in consumer confidence — now at its lowest since July 2022, according to Experis’ data.  

In April, skills-based hiring in the tech marketplace was up sharply. CompTIA reported that 46% of all active tech job postings in the last month did not specify that candidates have a four-year degree. More employers, including the federal government, are leaving behind college degree requirements and embracing a skills-based hiring approach that emphasizes strong work backgrounds, certifications, assessments, and endorsements. And soft skills are becoming a key focus of hiring managers, even over hard skills.

Goldman Sachs

The percentage of postings that did not require a college degree rose markedly for five tech jobs in particular: network support specialists (86%), IT support specialists (73%), network and systems administrators (55%), web and UI/UX designers (51%) and database administrators (48%).

Even though tech unemployment again dipped, the layoffs that began in 2022 have continued this year, indicating a shift in desirable job positions. This year is expected to be a year of recovery for the IT industry. 

“Employers and job seekers continue to navigate a shifting labor market,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. “Skills-first approaches to hiring and talent development are even more important against this backdrop.” 

Technology companies added an estimated 4,280 workers in April, CompTIA’s analysis of BLS data revealed. Growth was led by hiring in technology services and software development (+5,600) and cloud infrastructure (+900). Cloud infrastructure and data processing and hosting jobs have seen gains in nine of the past 12 months, while positions in tech and software services have risen in 10 of the past 12 months.

CompTIA

Technology occupations throughout the economy, however, fell by 20,000 in April, a decline of 0.3%, according to CompTIA.

Martha Heller, CEO of executive tech talent search firm Heller Search, said her data shows a softening in the IT job market.

“But the IT sector layoffs are mainly due to IT service providers, such as Microsoft and Salesforce, which are replacing those teams with AI developers and data scientists,” Heller said. “For IT sector business owners, this means they must re-platform all their products with AI integrations.  But for business leaders in every other sector, they have a very big pool of IT talent to choose from now.”

The real job growth story in technology hiring will continue to be AI, according to Heller, as companies race to implement the fast-evolving tech in support of digital transformation projects and to boost productivity and efficiency. Whether companies are ready to hire their own AI developers or need to modernize their legacy tech first, they will all need to continue to grow their technology teams or be left out of the AI boom, according to Heller.

Craig Crisler, CEO of IT talent outsourcing firm NinjaSupport, agreed with Heller, adding that “generative AI is white hot and in demand” and so is the job market for it. “While many companies are on a hiring spree for AI, we’re also seeing a shortage in talent for folks with AI PhDs and data scientists, making them very expensive and difficult to find,” he said.

Companies, Crisler said, now have to walk a fine line between finding the talent they need and finding the revenue to pay for that new talent. “Some might get one or two really expensive hires and fill the rest of the team with cheaper talent, while some might fill out their entire team with mid-range salaries and go with a more balanced approach,” he said.

March 2024

After a lengthy spat of layoffs spiked unemployment rates in recent months, the tech industry is poised to return to growth, according to analyses of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released today.

Employers accelerated their hiring of technology workers and expanded their search for new tech talent in March, according to CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce.

Tech companies added an estimated 6,000 workers last month, according to CompTIA’s analysis of BLS data. Job growth was led by new hiring in technology services, software development, cloud infrastructure and related positions.

Technology occupations throughout the economy rose by 203,000 for the month. That pushed the unemployment rate for tech occupations in March back down a full half a point from 3.5% in February to 3.0%, according to CompTIA.

CompTIA

Employers added 191,000 new job postings for tech positions, an increase of 8,000 from the previous month and the highest volume since August 2023. In total, there were an estimated 438,000 active tech job postings in March.

“With all four key tracking metrics in the positive for the month, it’s a welcome return to stability in the tech employment data,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA.

By occupation category, software developers and IT support specialists saw the largest increases in openings from February to March. The job posting data also affirms that there are a variety of paths to a job in technology. CompTIA’s report shows that 46% of all tech jobs postings in March did not specify that candidates have a four-year degree.

Percentages were higher in certain job categories, such as IT support specialists (78%), network support specialists (66%) and web UI/UX designers (62%). Jobs in artificial intelligence (AI) or for occupations that require AI skills accounted for 41% of March postings in the emerging technologies sub-category.

Becky Frankiewicz, president of Manpower Group North America, took a more subdued view of the current tech market. “Our real-time data shows signs of a goldilocks labor market — hiring is slightly hotter than last year at this time, cooler than last month and warmer than pre-pandemic,” she said “This demonstrates remarkable resilience given the economic uncertainty we’re experiencing right now.”

Both the overall US unemployment rate, at 3.8%, and the number of unemployed people, at 6.4 million, changed little in March. The unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent from February’s 3.9%.

Overall US unemployment has remained in a narrow range of 3.7% to 3.9% since August 2023, according to BLS data. While the unemployment rate changed little, the U.S. labor market added 303,000 jobs in March, which far exceeding the roughly 200,000 economists had predicted.

According to Janco Associates, a management consulting firm for the IT industry, the number of unfilled IT jobs fell from 202,000 in January to 117,000 in February — a drop of more than 42%.

CompTIA

Tech demand remains stronger than last year at this time and was stronger in Q1 2024 than during the final three months of 2023.

“Demand for AI and machine learning engineers has continued to grow for the last few years, and we’re recognizing that with increased tech demand comes increased training and upskilling,” said Ger Doyle, senior vice president at ManpowerGroup and Head of Experis North America — a ManpowerGroup focused on recruitment of US tech talent.

“Humanizing tech roles is the key to continuing this growth, making the ladder for tech roles in reach and bringing attainable skills to employers and employees alike,” Doyle said.

In its “State of the Tech Workforce 2024,” CompTIA forecasts tech employment growth of 3.1% this year — a net gain of more than 300,000 new jobs. That compares to the 1.2% growth rate of 2023, which yielded about 117,000 net new hires.

Top projected occupations for this year, and their growth rates, include: data scientists and data analysts, up 5.5%; cybersecurity analysts and engineers, up 5.1%; software developers and engineers up 4.8%; software QA and testers, up 4.3%; computer and information research scientists, also up 4.3%; CIOs and IT Directors, up 3.6%; web developers, also up 3.6%; and web and digital interface designers, up 3.6%.

According to projections from the BLS statistics and job market analytics firm Lightcast, the tech workforce will grow twice as fast in the next 10 years as the overall US workforce. The replacement rate for tech occupations during the 2024-2034 period is expected to average about 6% annually, or approximately 350,000 workers each year, totaling several million through 2034.

Growth in so-called “driver occupations” will expand even faster. Positions in the data science and data analyst, cybersecurity, software development, UI/UX and emerging tech categories, including artificial intelligence, will grow at the fastest rates on a percentage basis, according to CompTIA. “On a volume basis, core infrastructure positions in networking and cloud engineering, along with tech support positions, will continue to serve as the on ramp for many starting a career in technology,” the report stated.

Projections from CompTIA’s report indicate that 20 states and 14 metropolitan areas will exceed the average growth rate this year. Twenty-six metro markets are expected to at least double last year’s job growth rate, reflecting the diversity of tech hub concentrations across the US.

February 2024

US unemployment in the technology sector increased by 0.2% to 3.5% last month, following an upward trend in joblessness in all sectors.

Technology occupations across the economy declined by an estimated 133,000 positions, according to a new report from IT industry group CompTIA.

Overall, the US unemployment rate among all job markets rose by 0.2% to 3.9% in February, and the number of unemployed people increased by 334,000 to 6.5 million. A year earlier, the jobless rate was 3.6%, and the number of unemployed people was 6 million. While unemployment did tick up, February’s rate continued the longest stretch of unemployment below 4% in decades.

There were 275,000 jobs added to the US market last month, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report today. The data shows a significant uptick over January’s 229,000 jobs added to the workforce, but lower than December’s numbers, when 290,000 jobs were added.

“New hiring of tech services and software development personnel is the lone bright spot in February’s lackluster technology employment data,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at IT industry group CompTIA.

Overall tech industry employment increased modestly, employer job postings for future tech hiring were flat, tech occupations throughout the economy declined, according to CompTIA’s latest jobs report.

“We continue to see the lag effect of market developments working their way into government employment data,” Hebert said. “While employers across every sector of the economy demand tech talent spanning the continuum of tech job roles, there are pockets of employers recalibrating their staffing levels.”

IT business consultancy Janco Associates had a similar take on the lackluster IT job market performance in February. It said in its report today that hiring of IT Pros is hindered by the lack of qualified individuals and a slowing economic picture, which “will have a dampening impact on the growth of the IT job market size.

According to Janco’s data, there are currently 4.18 million US workers employed as IT professionals. The rate of growth in the number of new IT jobs has slowed, the firm said.

“There now are just over 121,000 unemployed IT professionals. The IT job market shrank by over 48,600 jobs in calendar year 2023, Janco’s report stated. “Overall that is a flattening of the long term growth rate pattern of IT job market,” the firm said.

One of the more surprising results of the BLS report, however, was that the agency drastically revised its January job gains, which had previously been reported as a leap of 353,000 new jobs. The revised numbers dropped that by more 124,000 jobs.

Tech employers added 185,000 new job postings for positions in February, raising the total number of active tech job postings to more than 436,000, according to CompTIA’s data. California, Texas and Virginia had the largest volumes of tech job postings among the states. At the metro level, Washington, New York, Dallas, Chicago and Boston were the most active markets. 

Open positions in artificial intelligence or jobs requiring AI skills continue to hover near the 10% threshold, while positions offering hybrid, remote or work from home options account for about 20% of all tech job postings, CompTIA’s report showed.

Technology companies added an estimated 2,340 workers last month, CompTIA’s analysis of BLS data showed. The technology services and software development sub-sector saw employment increase by 4,200 positions, but those gains were offset by staffing reductions in telecommunications and manufacturing.

Net tech employment spanning tech industry and tech occupation employment totaled more than 9.6 million workers, according to CompTIA’s data.

Over the next quarter — from April through June — the US is expected to lead all other nations in IT hiring, according to IT staffing firm Experis, a subsidiary of ManpowerGroup.

Ger Doyle, head of IT staffing at Experis North America, said while hiring data shows worker demand will remain strong, it will be “more balanced and concentrated.”

Nurses, software developers and front-line retail workers are the three most sought after roles in the U.S. today, according to Doyle.

“In the tech space, AI and machine learning engineers are seeing good growth since last year, with finance and consulting companies as some of the top employers of this specialist tech talent,” Doyle said.

While tech sector layoffs have made headlines over the past year Experis’s data shows the same companies laying people off are also hiring, including top tech companies such as Google, META, Amazon and Apple. However, consuntancies and financial services companies are also hiring – firms such as KPMG, Booz Allen Hamilton, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Slalom Consulting, according to Doyle.

While artificial intelligence and machine learning engineer hiring decreased by 1% in February, the demand for the roles has been trending upward since May 2023, Doyle said.

Wages are following suit, and have remained steady overall, with month-over-month increases in some sectors where remote and hybrid roles have increased, such as IT and business operations.

Hybrid job roles are strongest in the IT (38%) and finance (40%) sectors, according to Experis data.

January 2024

The US added twice as many jobs in January as analysts had expected, though the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7% and tech layoffs continued to plague the IT industry.

In January, the US added 353,000 jobs, according to data published today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). And for tech workers, the latest employment data suggests 2024 is off to a promising start, according to an analysis by IT trade association CompTIA.

Tech companies added nearly 18,000 workers last month, the second consecutive month of job growth. The unemployment rate for tech occupations remained at 3.3%, well below the overall national rate, according to CompTIA. Yet, overall, tech occupations, which span all industries, were down in January.

Tech companies added jobs in several primary sub-sectors:

Technology services and software development (+14,500)

Cloud infrastructure (+2,100)

Tech manufacturing (most notably semiconductors) (+1,400)

Also, on the rise – job openings in artificial intelligence (AI) and positions that offer hybrid, remote, or work from home options. AI job postings or jobs requiring AI skills increased by about 2,000 positions from December to 17,479 last month, CompTIA said.

Tech occupations across all markets and the broader economy, however, declined by an estimated 117,000 positions. “This month’s data is a helpful reminder of the many moving parts in assessing tech workforce gains or losses,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. “The expansive tech workforce will simultaneously experience gains and losses reflecting employer short-term and longer-term staffing needs.”

Employers listed more than 392,000 active tech job postings, with nearly 178,000 added last month alone. January’s total of active postings was 33,727 more than the December 2023 figure, the largest month-to-month increase in a year.

There was significant employer interest in filling positions in software development, IT project management, data analysis and science, IT support and systems analysis and engineering. And after several months of decline, the number of job postings offering hybrid, remote or work-from-home options exceeded 30,000 in January, up about 5,000 from December.

“Looking at the bigger picture, we continue to see a post-pandemic rebalancing,” said Becky Frankiewicz, president of staffing firm ManpowerGroup NA. “While hiring isn’t as strong as a year ago, it is better than pre-pandemic and has improved month-over-month.

“We’re also seeing an expected post-holiday hangover in retail and logistics, balanced by increases in IT, finance, accounting and engineering,” she continued. “Overall, more jobs are available now for each unemployed worker than there were before the pandemic, creating a stable environment for employers and employees.” 

Layoffs in the tech sector have been a thorn in the side of an otherwise healthy industry. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft collectively laid off tens of thousands of workers last year and were among a number of companies that announced planned layoffs for this year. Meta and Google and AWS are cutting back on more ambitious “moonshot” projects, as enterprises are still hesitant to spend big on large software buildouts, etc.

This week, iRobot announced it would lay off about 31% of its 1,250 employees after a deal to be acquired by Amazon fell through.

The number of employees laid off at tech companies more than tripled between December and January, according to industry tracker Layoff.fyi. So far this year, 115 tech firms have laid off 30,375 employees, according to the site.

Though layoffs remain below pre-pandemic levels, the number of US employees filing for jobless benefits last week reached an 11-week high. And while the stock market continues to soar, tech companies appear worried.

Many segments of the market remain soft, according to Jack Gold, principal analyst with business consultancy J. Gold Associates. That is likely to continue for at least the next two quarters, he said.

“Tech layoffs might make the headlines, but our real-time data shows a more nuanced story. In many cases, the same companies that are laying people off are also still hiring — they’re just laser focused on hiring to meet demand,” said Ger Doyle, senior vice president of tech employment service Experis.

As an example, Microsoft and Amazon, which recently cut jobs in gaming and streaming, respectively, are simultaneously planning huge investments in AI, according to Doyle. 

Experis’s data shows tech demand rebounded in January (up 26% compared to  December), with demand for AI/ML engineers growing 19% last month.

“AI hiring is through the roof due to betting on the future next big thing,” Gold said. “But that leaves many more mature industries vulnerable to scaling back. The thinking in many companies is, let’s cut back on ‘fringe’ stuff until we can determine if we’re going to be OK.”

Doyle said it’s important for employess to keep a focus on internal mobility. “We’re also seeing small and mid-size companies have their moment, scooping up tech talent that may have let go by the big hitters. It’s also important to remember that today every company is a tech company — Capital One, Doordash and Reddit are among the top hirers of AI and machine learning talent in the country today.

“Those with tech skills will still find themselves in high demand and able to call the shots on remote working, too…,” Doyle said.

December 2023

Unemployment in the IT industry ticked up from 2% in November to 2.3% in December, according to an analysis of the latest jobs data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Tech occupations throughout the US economy declined by 79,000 positions last month, though the unemployment rate for tech occupations was still well below the overall national unemployment rate of 3.7%.

The up-and-down pattern in tech employment seen over the past few months continued in December, according to CompTIA, an IT trade association.



Tech companies added the largest number of workers since April, but tech occupations throughout the economy declined, according to CompTIA’s analysis of data from the BLS.

Job postings for tech occupations also fell. Active postings totaled nearly 364,000, including 142,295 newly added by employers in December, according to CompTIA.

There’s still strong demand for tech workers; US employers advertised 3.13 million IT job postings during 2023 for a wide range of positions including support, infrastructure, software, data, cybersecurity, and technology enablement.

In December, the top tech job postings by job openings in the US were:

Software Developers and Engineers — 40,490;

IT Project Management, Data Analysts, Emerging, Other — 27,853;

IT Support Specialists — 16,526;

Systems Analysts and Engineers — 12,513;

Data Scientists — 10,293.

(Not every “help wanted” ad results in a new hire; generally, the ratio is one new hire for every eight job postings, according to CompTIA.)

One area that saw marked hiring involved artificial intelligence (AI) roles. Employer hiring for AI and other specialized skills continued to exceed 10% of all tech job postings, CompTIA said.

The push for AI and generative AI hires might be having an adverse effect on entry-level IT positions, especially in customer service, telecommunications, and hosting automation, according to Victor Janulaitis, CEO of IT consultancy Janco Associates, Inc.

“CIOs and CFOs are looking to improve the productivity of IT by automating processes and reporting where possible,” Janulaitis said. “They are focusing on eliminating ‘non-essential’ managers, staff, and services. Experienced coders and developers still have opportunities.”

The highest demand continues to be for AI specialists, security professionals, programmers, and blockchain processing experts, according to Janulaitis.

Ger Doyle, senior vice president of IT staffing firm Experis, said he still sees “very strong demand” for full stack developers, data scientists, and AI experts. “Seventy-six percent of IT employers say they are facing difficulty finding the talent they need,” Doyle said.

“Supporting people to gain experience and develop new skills will be key to alleviating talent shortages and helping people build employability for the long term,” IT staffing firm ManpowerGroup said in a statement.

Overall, US employers anticipate measured hiring in the first quarter of 2024, while persistent talent shortages continue to impede hiring, according to the latest Employment Outlook Survey from staffing firm ManpowerGroup. With seasonal variations removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook (NEO) for the U.S. is +35%. 

(The NEO is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting the percentage of employers who expect a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter.)

Globally, the US ties for second place in the world (+35%), outpaced by first-place ties, India and The Netherlands (+37%).

“Tech employment remains on solid footing,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, said in a statement. “Despite the ongoing pattern of mixed signals in the labor market tracking data, the optimistic outlook continues to hold.”

Janulaitis saw it differently, however: “Layoffs at big tech companies continued to hurt overall IT hiring in 2023. CIOs are looking at a troubling economic climate and are evaluating the need for increased headcounts based on the technological requirements of their specific business operations. At the same time, with a mean total compensation of $100,000 for ITpPros, IT will continue to be a target for budget cutting.”

Talent mobility is set to be the key trend of the new year — employers need to look for potential vs past performance and help people make lateral moves within their organization, according to ManpowerGroup.

In December, overall US employment rose by 216,000 people, according to the BLS . The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous month, with the number of unemployed workers was essentially unchanged at 6.3 million.

Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services continued to trend up, adding 25,000 jobs; the industry added an average of 22,000 jobs per month in 2023, about half the average monthly gain of 41,000 in 2022, according to the BLS report.

For all of 2023, the US added 2.7 million jobs. While the overall unemployment rate has remained under 4% over the past two years, last year ended with a higher unemployment rate (3.7%) than in 2022 (3.5%). Employment continued to trend up in government, healthcare, social assistance, and construction, while transportation and warehousing lost jobs.

“The 2024 labor market is all about balance and moderation — restoring equilibrium after four years of pandemic related swings,” said Becky Frankiewicz, president of the North America Region for staffing firm ManpowerGroup. “Today’s report…shows continued stabilization and an optimistic start to the New Year for employers and workers. Employers are holding onto their people and hiring where the demand exists.”  

Average hourly wage growth accelerated slightly in December, rising by 4.1% over the previous 12 months to $34.27 an hour and continued to beat inflation, boosting workers’ spending power, according to BLS data.

November 2023

The number of new IT jobs being added to the US economy has continued to shrink over the past three months, even as the unemployment rate for tech workers has remained near historical lows.

The unemployment rate for tech workers dropped from 2.2% in October to about 2% in November, according to new data based on US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall, US employment increased by 199,000 in November, and the national unemployment rate edged down to 3.7%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That tracks with October, when employment increased by about 150,000 jobs and the unemployment rate was 3.9%.

While there have been a plethora of big employers announcing tech layoffs, there has also been a redistribution of tech talent to midsize and small companies that “finally got their shot at hiring talent post-pandemic,” according to Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup, North America.

“This talent was scooped up almost in real time by smaller size businesses, so it remains quite difficult to fill tech roles in the country,” Frankiewicz said. “Now that every company is a tech company, we also saw tech talent absorbed into other sectors outside of tech — like retail and hospitality.

“We continue to see strong demand in business analyst roles and software developers as companies continue to work on readying projects for the new year and building out their apps for more clicks this season,” she added.

According to a report from business consultancy Janco Associates, the IT job market shrank by 12,000 open positions in the last three months, leaving 101,000 unemployed IT professionals. At the same time, close to the same number of tech positions remain unfilled.

“CIOs have started to halt hiring IT pros. Demand for contractors and consultants is slow due to economic uncertainty,” Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis said in the report. “On a bright side, there are still over 120K unfilled jobs for IT professionals.”

Year to date, the IT job market has shrunk by 24,900 positions, according to Janco’s report. Currently, about 4.18 million people are employed as IT professionals in the US, according to Janco.

Janco’s figures show a year-to-date loss of nearly 25,000 IT jobs.

In the past 18 months, the number of IT pros hired each month has moved from 105,00 to 57,000 in October 2023.

“2023 was not a good year for the size of the IT job market,” Janulaitis said. “We currently do not see any change in that trend. In our professional opinion, in 2024 the size of the IT job market will remain at about the same levels as the fourth quarter of 2023, with growth in size limited to minimal levels.”

The number of unfilled positions for IT pros has fallen from 148,000 to 101,000 in the past 18 months. “There still is demand; however, not at the peak of the post-pandemic hiring frenzy,” Janulaitis said.

Not all IT job reports were doom and gloom, however. CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the IT industry and its workers, echoed ManpowerGroup’s findings, saying that hiring among SMBs is up — way up. And employer demand for AI talent boosted the share of job postings to 12%, the company stated.

Meanwhile, CompTIA’s numbers showed tech unemployment to be at 1.7%, well below ManpowerGroup’s figures, even as it estimated that tech occupations throughout the economy declined by 210,000 last month.

Tech occupations across the economy increased by an estimated 483,000 jobs, according to CompTIA. Tech firms added an estimated 2,159 workers, mainly in IT services and custom software development, CompTIA’s Tech Jobs Report showed.

“With the gains in employer hiring intent for AI talent, the job posting data is finally catching up to the hype,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer. “As an enabling technology, companies hiring for AI skills inevitably need to boost adjacencies in areas such as data infrastructure, cybersecurity, and business process automation.” 

Employer hiring activity as measured by job postings for tech positions totaled 155,621 for November. Jobs associated with artificial intelligence (AI) made up 12% of the total, more than 18,000 postings. It’s the first time AI positions have surpassed the 10% threshold. Positions in emerging technologies or jobs that require emerging tech skills accounted for 26% of tech job postings last month.

Tech job postings continue to fall. (Click image to enlarge it.)

ManpowerGroup’s Frankiewicz said her company’s analysts anticipated a stabilization of the IT job market with real-time data showing impacts to all sectors, including “always-hot healthcare” and retail.

“In real time, we’re seeing double-digit declines in job postings month over month and year over year that we haven’t seen since 2020. This moderation is welcome for many employers — who are finding it easier to fill vacancies,” Frankiewicz said.

“Time to fill roles has dropped to 49 days in November, from an average of 122 days in 2023 to date. For highly skilled roles like software developer, the time to fill has dropped by more than half, from 106 days to 29,” she added.

“We’re also seeing signs of the heavy hitter big companies taking a back seat and midsize employers with 50-249 employees having their moment — a trend that began with tech talent and is now impacting across the board,” Frankiewicz said.

October 2023

The national job rate for technology workers remained little changed in October, according to an analysis of data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The unemployment rate for tech workers in October dropped from 2.2% in September to 2.1% last month, even as there has been a cooling in the broader US job market. Technology companies and employers throughout the economy added workers to their payrolls in October, according to CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the IT industry and its workers.

Tech occupations across the economy increased by an estimated 483,000 jobs, according to CompTIA. Tech firms added an estimated 2,159 workers, mainly in IT services and custom software development, CompTIA’s Tech Jobs Report showed.

It was the second consecutive month of job growth in the sector — albeit at a modest pace.

“It’s fair to say tech employment gains for the month exceeded expectations, given the recent labor market swings,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, said in a statement. “Companies continue to focus on the technologies and skills that deliver meaningful business value.”

California, Texas, Virginia, Florida and New York had the highest volumes of tech job postings among the states, CompTIA indicated. The Charlotte, Boston, San Diego, Cleveland and Phoenix markets were also active in October, with month-over-month increases in employer postings for tech jobs.

While the US market added 150,000 jobs in October, the overall unemployment rate rose from 3.8% to 3.9%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed persons — 6.5 million — changed little in October. However, since their recent lows in April, those numbers are up by 0.5% and 849,000, respectively.

The uptick in unemployment and the slower pace of hiring pointed to a cooling of the employment market. In September, for example, 279,000 jobs were added to the US economy.

Becky Frankiewicz, president of staffing firm ManpowerGroup’s North America region, credited the slowdown for employees being less likely to leave for new roles than they were at the height of the pandemic. Hiring, she said, is solid but settling down.

“Our real-time data shows that in many sectors, especially blue-collar and tech, the market is finding balance,” she said. “The post-pandemic hiring frenzy and summer hiring warmth has cooled and companies are now holding onto employees.”

The tech sector is also cooling from its torrid growth over the past two or more years, but there’s still demand for highly skilled positions including app developers, cyber security experts and data analysts, Frankiewicz said.

“The most in-demand functions remain steady — with most new roles posted in medical and healthcare, sales and IT,” she said.

After a spike in the number of openings for IT professionals in the early summer, the number of unfilled openings for IT professionals fell from 201,000 in August to 160,000 in September. That reflects a pullback from the peak of 254,000 opening in July, according to Frankiewicz.

About 20% of job postings offered work from home or remote work as an option, according to CompTIA. One-quarter were for positions in emerging technologies or jobs that require emerging tech skills, including 16,000 associated with artificial intelligence (AI) jobs and skills. Employer hiring for AI positions and skills continues to trend upward, although it’s still a relatively small share of overall tech hiring activity.

Along with AI-skilled workers, software developers, IT support specialists, systems analysts, and data scientists are among the job roles in greatest demand, according to CompTIA.

Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Utah-based research firm Janco Associates, agreed AI and machine learning skills are in demand, though the number of coder openings is falling. At the same time, hiring of IT professionals is hindered by the lack of qualified individuals and a slowing economic picture.

“This will have a dampening impact on the growth of the IT Job Market size,” Janco stated in its latest tech market jobs report.

September 2023

The US unemployment rate remained at 3.8% in September, but the market added 336,000 jobs, far surpassing analyst expectations, according to today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers.

Tech employment, however, was a laggard in the generally upbeat US employment report released today, according to analysis by the nonprofit trade association CompTIA. Key metrics of tech hiring activity all slipped in September, its report showed.

Tech jobs among all sectors across the economy fell by an estimated 20,000. The technology sector unemployment rate ticked up from 2.1% in August to 2.2% in September, but it remains well below the national rate of 3.8%, according to CompTIA.

Tech salaries also appeared to be on a downslope, according to an analysis by job matching site Hired, which notes that US inflation-adjusted salaries have plummeted to a five-year low.

Meanwhile, tech sector companies reduced staffing by a net 2,632 positions last month, according to CompTIA’s analysis of BLS data.

Employer job postings for future tech hiring also fell to 184,077 in September, down from nearly 208,000 in August. (Future tech hiring is defined by CompTIA as expected open requisitions.)

“Demand for software positions continues to drive the largest volume of hiring activity. In the aggregate, volumes are equally large in positions spanning IT project management, IT support, data analytics, and systems/cloud infrastructure,” CompTIA’s report stated.

Positions in emerging technologies or jobs requiring emerging tech skills accounted for 26.5% of all tech jobs postings last month, up from 22% in August. Within emerging tech job postings, 36% were associated with artificial intelligence (AI).

“There is no sugar-coating the off month of tech employment data,” Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer, said in a statement. “Despite the persistently high demand for tech skills on many fronts and positive forward-looking projections, there is a lag in hiring at the moment.”

Jim McCoy, senior vice president of staffing firm ManpowerGroup, echoed Hebert’s sentiments on tech employment, but he said one bright sector has been smaller firms that are still dealing with a skills gap.

“To be sure, large companies have pulled back hiring and even cut workers, especially in technology, as borrowing costs have spiraled higher,” McCoy said. “But many small and midsized businesses that struggled to attract workers are snapping up those laid off and drawing from a more plentiful labor supply as Americans sidelined by COVID return to the workforce.”

The BLS jobs report showed the average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $33.88. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings  have increased by 4.2%, the report stated. In September, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 6 cents, or 0.2%, to $29.06.

While hiring may be up overall, real wages in the technology sector appeared to be declining, according to a recent report from job matching site Hired.

In its annual State of Tech Salaries Report, released in late September, Hired said the tech talent market has seen dramatic shifts from 2022 to the first half of 2023, fueling tension and misalignment between recruiter and job candidate expectations.

Following a year of record-breaking inflation and market turbulence, local salaries in the US, including those for fully in-person or hybrid roles, have experienced their most significant year-over-year decline, dropping by 3% from $161,000 to $156,000. In contrast, salaries in the UK have seen a 4% increase, rising from £82,000 to £86,000, according to Hired.

When adjusted for inflation, local salaries decreased 9% from $141K in 2022 to $129K by mid-2023, while remote salaries decreased 6% from $143K in 2022 to $134K by mid-2023.

Amid the rise of generative AI and a tightening of corporate budgets, junior talent (workers with less than four years of experience) have experienced the most significant decrease in salaries — nearly 5% year-over-year — and demand, with posted roles on the platform lowering from 45% in 2019 to 25% in the first half of 2023, according to Hired’s report.

“Compared to last year, we are witnessing a seismic shift in tech employee and employer preferences. The surging demand for experienced tech talent on our platform and employers’ increasing reliance on AI tools point to an ever-growing skills gap. This challenge will only heighten as companies reduce their hiring locations amid their return to the office and limit their access to qualified talent,” said Josh Brenner, CEO at Hired.

“With the future talent pipeline at risk of a deficit, companies cannot afford to disregard high-quality talent at any level. Instead, they must embrace diverse candidates with transferable skills who can adeptly address industry challenges, especially amid rapid advancements driven by emerging technologies like AI,” Brenner added.

The highest paid tech workers were engineering managers, particularly with the introduction of AI tools and increased cybersecurity challenges. Engineering managers earn on average $202,000 in the US and £118,000 in the UK — a notable 10% increase from £107,000 at the end of 2022. 

Specialized engineers are the most in demand in 2023: Employers on Hired’s marketplace have a higher demand for specialized engineers, especially for AI applications such as ML, as well as cybersecurity, data, and back-end engineers.

AI isn’t an immediate threat to job security, but it could present challenges for job seekers in the coming years: While the majority of surveyed candidates (87%) currently do not view AI as the primary threat to their roles, a significant portion of employers (47%) project they will leverage AI to reduce headcounts by 2029.

Overall, there were job gains in leisure and hospitality, government, healthcare, professional services, scientific and technical services, and social assistance.

Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services increased by 29,000 jobs in September, in line with the average monthly gain of 27,000 over the prior 12 months, BLS data showed.

Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates, identified the 10 AI skills listed most often on client open job requisitions for IT professionals. The one AI skill that was included in more than 60% of those requisitions: ChatGPT.

“Since its launch in November of 2022, ChatGPT has been implemented by the greatest number of organizations,” Janulaitis said in a blog post. “As a result, companies are recruiting IT professionals who have the skills to help them with using ChatGPT for content generation, task automation and scripting… and more.”

Other skills listed in open IT job requisitions: Natural Language Proces