Dive Brief:
- The effects of economic uncertainty have impacted tech hiring, as IT positions across the economy dipped by 214,000 in April, according to a CompTIA report published Friday.
- IT unemployment ticked up nearly half a percentage point during April to reach 3.5%, the highest level since June, despite national unemployment falling slightly to 4%. Positions in the tech industry also contracted by around 7,000 last month.
- “It was not a great month of data, but expected given the circumstances,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, in the report. “Employer tech job postings continue to hold up, so a possible sign that hiring will resume as companies find their bearings.”
Dive Insight:
For many enterprises, hiring plans and projects remain in a “wait-and-see” mode as concerns over the effects of tariffs and dampened consumer demand persisted through April.
“The reality of a slowing economy and rising unemployment will have a direct impact on IT spending,” analyst firm IDC wrote in an April research note. “Businesses will first look to cut spending on devices and on-premise infrastructure, seeking rapid cost benefits to protect the bottom line. Any job cuts will have a direct impact on some types of IT spending.”
Tech unemployment rose in March
National unemployment rates compared to those in IT occupations
IT vendors are beginning to flag the effect of looming tariffs on future performance. IBM Chairman, President and CEO Arvind Krishna warned of discretionary cutbacks in customer procurement of consulting services, speaking last month during the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call.
“There are areas of our portfolio that could see greater variability in the event that the macroeconomic environment deteriorates,” said Krishna.
Cautious hiring and investment plans are showing up for job seekers despite strengths in some pockets of the labor market, said Mischa Fisher, economist at Udemy.
“It can be difficult to find a job because businesses are hesitant to make investments in new hires,” said Fisher in a Friday email to CIO Dive. “Simultaneously layoffs haven’t spiked because most companies also do not want to hurt their competitive edge if growth ramps up later in the year.”
Despite dampened hiring intent, employer demand for AI roles and AI skills remained resilient, according to CompTIA. More than 55,000 new AI related job postings were added in April, an increase of 184% year over year.
