The tech sector added some 9,600 new jobs in July, led by the creation of about 4,900 positions in IT and software services, and computer system design, according to a new CompTIA report. The growth of these positions demonstrates businesses’ expanding use of cloud-based technology and Everything as a Service, the report stated.
The US IT sector has grown in terms of jobs each month this year, except for April, CompTIA found after analyzing IT job trends based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By the end of July, the field had added about 72,100 new positions.
Software development talent continues to be the most in-demand role in the field, with nearly 61,000 job postings in July, the report found.
“Despite the positive employment growth for the year, the job posting data suggests employer demand should translate to even more tech worker hiring,” Tim Herbert, senior vice president of research and market intelligence at CompTIA, said in a press release. “A combination of factors such as skills gaps, pipeline gaps, location gaps, and pay gaps can contribute to fewer workers hired than needed.”
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July also saw new positions created in the following IT fields: Search portals (2,300), computer and electronic products manufacturing (1,300), and data processing, hosting, and related services (1,200).
Tech manufacturing gains, in particular, were driven in July by employment growth in semiconductors, electronic instruments, and communications equipment. Meanwhile, the field saw job declines in computers and peripherals manufacturing.
The telecommunications sector continued to suffer, losing 100 jobs last month, and 38,500 over the course of the year, representing the deepest job losses in the tech field, the report noted.
“Telecommunications providers continue to remake their workforces as they shift away from legacy services and move towards emerging services,” Herbert said in the press release.
Employment growth in the tech sector in July outpaced that in fields such as finance, nondurable goods manufacturing, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and coal mining, CompTIA found. Health care, and accommodation and food services, saw far larger job gains than tech did last month; however, on average, the salaries for these jobs are far less than those in the tech sector.
The IT field tends to be more volatile than other areas from month to month, CompTIA noted, reflecting normal patterns of worker turnover due to resignations, retirements, and layoffs.
Want to use this data in your next business presentation? Feel free to copy and paste these top takeaways into your next slideshow.
- The tech sector added approximately 9,600 new jobs in July 2017, led by the creation of about 4,900 positions in IT and software services, and computer system design. -CompTIA, August 2017
- The IT sector created about 72,100 new positions between January 2017 and July 2017. -CompTIA, August 2017
- Software developers are the most in-demand role among employers, with nearly 61,000 job postings in July 2017. -CompTIA, August 2017
