U.S. IT employment shows growth in March — TechServe Alliance
VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES — The U.S. IT sector experienced a 0.02% uptick in employment this March, marking a positive shift after a prolonged period of stagnation.
According to consulting firm TechServe Alliance, 800 IT jobs were added in the U.S., bringing the total number of IT jobs to over 5.3 million.
TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts highlighted the significance of this growth, stating, “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.”
He also noted that the IT unemployment rate remained stable at 2.4% in the first quarter, which he interprets as full employment and a sign of the sector’s positive trajectory.
Roberts further commented on the robust demand for specific tech talents, “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.”
IT employment in the U.S. saw a 0.08% uptick in January 2024, adding 4,400 jobs after nearly two years of declines.
In a separate report, the IT job board Dice, analyzing data from Lightcast, observed a 16% increase in tech job postings in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of the previous year.
Notably, tech job postings from nonstaffing firms increased by 15%, while those from staffing firms saw a more significant rise of 23%.
Additionally, the number of job postings for tech recruiters also went up by 16% in the first quarter, which Dice CEO Art Zeile finds promising, especially in the context of recent layoffs.
“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,” Zeile said.
Zeile also referenced a report by CompTIA, which showed that employers added 191,000 new tech job postings in March alone. He believes this surge “is indicative of the tech job market’s resilience and adaptability and paints a picture of strengthening in demand for tech talent across industries.”
The recent data points to a cautiously optimistic outlook for the IT employment landscape, with signs of recovery and growth in a sector that is critical to the economy’s overall health and innovation capacity.
