10.4.24 – CI
CompTIA reports a thriving tech job market: 8,583 jobs added, 2.5% unemployment rate and rising job postings.
In a promising development for the tech industry, the unemployment rate for technology occupations dropped to 2.5% in September, marking the most significant month-over-month decline in four years, according to analysis by CompTIA, the Downers Grove, Ill.-based, nonprofit association for the tech industry and workforce.
Overall tech industry employment increased by 8,583 net new positions for the month. Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals new hiring was primarily driven by the subsectors of cloud infrastructure, data processing, hosting, tech services and the custom software development sector.
Across the entire economy, tech occupation employment increased by 118,000 new positions, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The significant increase pushed the tech unemployment rate back down to 2.5%, well below the national unemployment rate. An estimated 6.4 million professionals are employed in core tech occupations by companies of all types across the economy.
“It was never really a question of if, but when employers were going to resume hiring,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA, says. He continues, “A broad mix of companies viewed recent economic developments as the greenlight to move forward in addressing their tech talent needs.”
Employers Increase the Number of Job Postings
Employer job postings for future tech hiring climbed for the second consecutive month, to more than 516,000 active postings, including 225,000 new listings added in September. Job openings for tech support specialists and database administrators saw the largest percent change increases for the month at 14%.
Employers continue to cast a wide net in their recruiting efforts as new job posting volumes for positions not specifying a four-year degree increased for the fifth straight month. CompTIA analysis of Lightcast job posting data indicates 46% of tech job postings in September did not specify that candidates require a four-year degree for hiring consideration.
Job postings were dispersed across industries, reflecting the universal nature of technology in the global economy. Companies in automotive (General Motors, Ford), financial services (JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo), healthcare (Cardinal Health, CVS Health, Humana, Intermountain Health), hospitality (Marriott International), and technology (Apple, Google, Meta, Oracle, TEKsystems) were among employers with the highest volumes of tech job postings last month.
Employment opportunities were also widely available geographically. The Washington (15,104), New York (13,291) and Dallas (10,676) metropolitan areas had the most job postings for the month, but markets such as Portland (OR), Lansing (MI), Trenton (NJ), Des Moines (IA) and Virginia Beach (VA) were also active.