April 11, 2024
IT employment ticked up in March and there was an increase in tech job postings in the first quarter, organizations are reporting.
The TechServe Alliance reported the US added 800 IT job in March — an increase of 0.02% — for total employment of more than 5.3 million.
“While growth in the last three months has been modest, it does reflect a positive trend after 23 consecutive months of contraction or no growth,” TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts said in a press release. “Growth in IT employment aligns with the strength seen in the overall labor market.”
IT unemployment held steady at 2.4% in the first quarter, Roberts noted. This reflects full employment and further confirms the positive trajectory of IT jobs, he said.
“While there are a number of economic, political and geopolitical risk factors that continue to cause some employers to hire cautiously, demand for tech talent in high-demand skill sets such as cybersecurity and AI remains strong,” Roberts said.
Separately, IT job board Dice reported its analysis of data from Lightcast found a 16% increase in tech job postings in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Tech job postings from nonstaffing firms rose 15%, while postings from staffing firms rose 23%.
Tech recruiter job postings also rose 16% in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter.
“It’s encouraging to see companies hiring for tech recruiter positions, especially following the layoffs we’ve seen in the past year and a half,” Dice CEO Art Zeile said.
Zeile also pointed to analysis recently released by CompTIA that employers added 191,000 new tech job postings in March.
“The uptick in tech job postings is indicative of the tech job market’s resilience and adaptability and paints a picture of strengthening in demand for tech talent across industries,” he said.