Tech Hiring Increases While Also Taking a Breather, CompTIA Analysis Shows

Downers Grove, IL (May 5, 2023) — Tech services, tech manufacturing and cloud infrastructure added jobs for the month, while the broader measure of tech employment across the economy took a breather, according to analysis by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.

Tech sector companies increased staffing by 18,795 positions in April, the largest volume of monthly hiring since August 2022, CompTIA’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics #JobsReport data reveals. New hiring of technology infrastructure, manufacturing and services workers led the growth, according to CompTIA’s “Tech Jobs Report.”

Tech occupations throughout the economy took a step back, declining by 99,000 positions.1 The unemployment rate for tech occupations inched up to 2.3%, still well below the national unemployment rate (3.4%).

“It was another all-too-familiar month of mixed labor market signals,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. “The surprisingly strong tech sector employment gains were offset by the pause in tech hiring across the economy.”

Employers listed more than 300,000 job postings for tech positions in April, signaling demand for tech talent continues to hold up.2

Within the tech sector, three occupation categories paced April hiring, led by IT services and custom software development (+12,700). Job gains was also reported in cloud infrastructure, data processing and hosting (+7,300) and PC, semiconductor and components manufacturing (+3,200).

Employer job postings for tech positions were widely dispersed geographically and by industry. Employers in administrative and support (32,861), finance and insurance (32,820) and manufacturing (31,959) were among the most active last month.

Among metropolitan markets, Washington, New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago had the highest volumes of job postings. Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Boston and Seattle saw the largest month-over-month increases in tech job postings.

The number of tech job postings that specify remote work or hybrid work arrangements as an option continued to trend upward in April – more than 65,000 positions across the country, with software developers, IT project managers, data analysts and jobs in emerging technologies topping the list.

The “CompTIA Tech Jobs Report” is available here.

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About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world’s leading information technology (IT) certification and training body. CompTIA is a mission-driven organization committed to unlocking the potential of every student, career changer or professional seeking to begin or advance in a technology career. Each year CompTIA, directly and through its global network of partners, provides millions of people with training, education and certification.

1 Monthly occupation level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tends to experience higher levels of variance and volatility.

2 Labor market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and employer job posting data from Lightcast may be subject to backward revisions.