9 of Indeed's top 15 jobs are tech-related and require 'a mix of analytical and soft skills'

Dive Brief:

Junior Java developer ranked as the second job of choice for potential hires with less than five years' experience, behind junior mechanical engineer, according to an Indeed report. CAE (computer aided engineering) engineer ranked third, then industrial engineer and junior product round out the top five.
The salaries for the top technical roles start with the CAE engineer at nearly $88,000, followed by the industrial engineering role at almost $72,000, then the junior Java developer at about $70,000.
Nine of Indeed's top 15 jobs are tech-related and require "a mix of analytical and soft skills which are difficult to automate," according to the report. The top positions, including Java developer, CAE engineer and industrial engineer, all traditionally require an education in STEM.

Dive Insight:

Tech companies hiring for entry level positions have the ability to be more selective, but so do potential employees. This creates a win-win for both sides, albeit a tenuous one. A tip of the scales towards too many jobs or not enough potential hires blows the whole thing up.

Colleges and policymakers are amping up higher education programs to keep the STEM pipeline open and flowing to help satisfy the demand.

In July, the IT job market increased with the addition of about 14,500 jobs. About 8,300 of the jobs were in IT services, custom software development and computer system design. Another 300 jobs were for data processing, hosting and other related services.

The IT industry is increasing its dependence on software and application developers. Between June and July, those jobs grew more than any other. The shift to more software as a service and cloud-based solutions are spurring this growth.

Data scientists earn six digits, with the top tier earning about $135,000 or more a year. Cities which can offer a more competitive salary are more inclined to scoop up available talent. Some places fare better than others, even though California accounts for nearly one-fourth of the national tech sector payroll.

But because California is responsible for such a large portion of employment in the tech sector, it increases the national average of technology wages. Software developers in particular earn an average of about $112,000 and have a low turnover rate.

A majority of developers, 60%, have been coding for five years or less, which contributes to the rapid growth in the space. Developers are also diverse in their skill offerings, despite the majority identifying as a backend developer.