The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) released its Tech Jobs Report last week. The report found that tech jobs unemployment rate fell to 1.7%, while job postings went up 49%. These results were based on the analysis of the latest US jobs report released on Friday.
Based on the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, the economy gained 528,000 jobs in July. This is more than double what economists expected. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was marginally lower than expected, 3.5% vs. 3.6%. The average hourly earnings, month-over-month was higher at 0.5% vs. +0.4%. Also, the average hourly earnings, year-over-year was 5.2% vs. +4.9%.
The unexpectedly strong jobs report might be the confidence boost tech professionals need amid other signs of economic weakness in the past months. Reports on the declining tech market, a looming recession, and continuing layoffs in the tech industry made tech workers question whether their jobs are indeed recession-proof.
CompTIA, a nonprofit advocating for the IT industry and workforce, found that tech jobs increased by 239,000 positions in July. These jobs came from across all industry sectors as reflected in the Labor Department’s data.
On the other hand, tech companies added 143,700 jobs this year—a 55% year-over-year increase. Overall, the tech industry experienced a net gain of 12,700 workers according to the CompTIA report. This was the 20th consecutive month of employment growth for the industry.
SaaS Hiring Amid Big Tech Layoffs
The CompTIA report noted that there were nearly 484,000 technology positions in July. This was slightly lower than the previous month but was still an impressive number.
“The tech jobs market has repeatedly outperformed in the face of real and perceived economic weakness,” said CompTIA Chief Research Officer, Tim Herbert. “The data confirms that for every layoff announcement there are other employers stepping in to take advantage of tech talent hiring opportunities.”
Herbert described a trend happening when we look at the hiring trends in the SaaS market. The big tech layoffs could be an opportunity for SaaS companies to hire experienced IT talents. Moreover, the State of SaaS Talent report showed that “64% of businesses in New York’s strong startup ecosystem plan on hiring even more people in 2022 than they did in 2021.”
With the Great Resignation taking place, there are more employment opportunities in the tech industry. In fact, the CompTIA report said that tech jobs are available at every experience level. There are also opportunities in a broad range of occupation categories and in nearly every metro market and state across the country.
Software Developers in High Demand
Even before the pandemic and Great Resignation trend broke out, CTOs and IT leaders were aware of the skills gap in the industry. Particularly, the software developer skills shortage is a top concern. Though low-code/no-code platforms are somehow able to fill in the labor gap, there will still be companies that need to scour the market for experienced developers.
True to this problem, the CompTIA report cited software developers and engineers as the most in-demand positions. There were nearly 148,000 job postings for these positions last month.
Other in-demand jobs include IT project managers, systems engineers and architects, IT support specialists, and network engineers and architects. Meanwhile, positions in emerging technologies (i.e. AI, robotics, IoT, automation) accounted for one-third of all postings in July.
For now, both the US jobs report and the CompTIA report should be enough to assure tech professionals in terms of job availability. The good numbers are an indication that SaaS and the tech industry can stand a chance against a potential economic slowdown.
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