Dive Brief:
- The tech unemployment rate in September dipped to 2.1%, down from 2.3% in the previous month, signaling sustained demand for tech skills, according to a CompTIA review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published Friday.
- The national unemployment rate also fell month-over-month, hovering at 3.5% even amid fears of a slowing economy.
- But job postings in tech, another indicator of technology skill demand, fell 12% month-over-month. Employers across industries were seeking to fill 302,000 technology roles, down from 320,000.
Dive Insight:
Tech positions have long dominated in-demand job categories. Recent numbers show this resilience holds true even amid stock market sell-offs or targeted layoff cycles in some areas of big tech earlier in the year.
Tech employment growth contradicts the prevailing sentiment of a slowing economy, said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, in the release.
"We can infer from the data that aggregate demand for tech talent remains strong enough to offset any pockets of weakness," said Herbert.
Tech unemployment consistently trails national rate
As companies shape 2023 budgets, technology is expected to survive looming cuts.
Most companies are concerned about the possibility of a prolonged economic downturn that could hurt their operations, according to a report from Spiceworks Ziff Davis released last month. Despite worries, the majority of businesses plan to increase their tech budgets in the coming year.
Just 6% say they plan to trim their tech spending, the analyst firm found.
To expand their ability to attract employees, some employers are dropping technology degree requirements, favoring instead certification programs in specific fields.
But in a job market favoring employees, hiring workers will prove costly and time-consuming, leading some businesses to take advantage of reskilling or training initiatives. This holds especially true in categories of high talent demand, such as emerging technologies.
