The coronavirus dampened hiring in many markets, and IT is no different.
This year started off with a hiring surge in IT, but as employers brace for the economic impact of the coronavirus, tech jobs are disappearing. According to The Wall Street Journal, core enterprise-technology positions in the U.S. dropped by 70,000 in February, and there is less demand for such positions as software developers and system engineers.
But employers added 40,000 IT jobs in February and 370,000 in January after cutting jobs the four previous months.
Michael Solomon, co-founder and managing partner of 10X Ascend, a tech recruiting firm, noted that tech employees have become the backbone of many businesses and create important value for the company. He said he sees the field staying competitive, as there is still great demand for top IT talent.
CompTIA released a report on the IT job market and found:
1. There are 12.1 million tech jobs in the U.S., with 307,000 added in the last year.
2. The largest category of tech jobs is software and web developers, at 1.6 million jobs. Cybersecurity and systems analysts were the second-largest category, at 740,286.
3. In 2019, there were 4.6 million tech job postings, including 822,000 in emerging tech areas.
4. The economic output of the tech industry is about $1.9 trillion, and the average wage for tech workers is nearly double the average national wage.
5. There are 557,000 tech businesses in the U.S., including 13,400 startups or business units that were launched last year.
The states and cities that added the most IT jobs in 2019 include:
· California: 1.8 million
· Texas: 1 million
· New York City: 680,140
· Florida: 585,296
Many firms predict that IT jobs will grow this year. Janco Associates predicted there would be 95,400 IT jobs created in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm projects that hiring of IT consultants and contractors will slow, but were more optimistic about positions opening up for other IT specialists and executives. The positions in high demand include CIOs, CISOs, blockchain managers and database specialists.
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