Dive Brief:
- The technology job market bounced back in October with U.S. employers across industries adding 483,000 IT jobs, according to a CompTIA review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Friday.
- The tech sector also expanded hiring activity in October, adding 2,159 workers. Tech services and custom software development positions drove growth for the industry.
- Unemployment among tech professions inched down slightly to 2.1%, from 2.2% in the previous month. In keeping with historical trends, tech job unemployment trailed the national average, which reached 3.9% in October.
Dive Insight
Companies eager to infuse technology into their products and processes helped the national tech labor market bounce back after posting losses in August and September.
The tech employment increases revealed by Friday’s report surpassed expectations, given previous shifts in the labor market, according to Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA.
Employers add nearly half a million tech jobs in October
National unemployment rates compared to those in IT occupations
“Companies continue to focus on the technologies and skills that deliver meaningful business value,” Herbert said in a statement. Software developers, IT support specialists and data scientists were the job roles in higher demand during October. Employer hiring for AI positions and skills continued to increase.
As the year enters its final stretch, layoffs in the technology industry have slowed considerably. Tech companies laid off around 25,000 workers in the third quarter, compared to more than 167,000 in Q1, according to Layoffs.fyi. The layoff wave in early 2023 was, in part, driven by a previous tech hiring glut, analysts told CIO Dive in March.
Despite the slowdown in job cuts, anxiety about layoffs hasn’t fully dissipated among tech workers.
Less than half of employees share a positive six-month view of their employer, according to a Glassdoor report published in October. Lingering anxiety from earlier job cuts, coupled with economic uncertainty, are stoking employee worries.
IT spending projections show companies will increase their spending on IT services next year, Gartner expects. With demand for talent outstripping available supply, companies will turn to service providers and automation investments to bridge the talent gap.
