April 2022
The IT job market size grew by 17,000 jobs in April, according to new data from IT employment consultancy Janco Associates.
Over the past three months, 43,200 Jobs have been added to IT Job Market, a pace of expansion exceeds 2021, the firm stated in its latest research post.
In 2021, 213,100 jobs were added to the IT Job Market. That not only replaced the jobs lost during the pandemic, but it also expanded the growth to a level that exceeded the pre-pandemic levels. (Janco bases its information on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics — the BLS.)
"In interviews with both CIOs and HR professionals, Janco has found that hiring IT professionals is at a record high level. This, even with inflation and the specter of a possible economic downturn," Janco stated. “All signs point to that growth continuing."
While all IT jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered, the hiring of IT professionals is now being hindered by a lack of qualified individuals, according to the latest statistics.
The April monthly tech jobs report released by the CompTIA industry association showed the tech industry added 12,300 jobs from February to March, 2022. Software developers (3,613) and systems engineers/architects (3,126) led the pack in terms of new positions available.
Software developers and engineers are far and away the most sought-after positions companies need to fill, with more than 115,000 job postings across the US, according to CompTIA. IT support specialists, IT project managers, systems engineers and architects, and network engineers and architects are also in high demand.
“By all accounts this was an exceptionally strong start to the year for tech employment,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. “The arms race in recruiting and retaining tech talent undoubtedly challenges employers in direct and indirect ways.”
The unemployment rate for tech occupations fell to a near-record low, as tech firms added workers for the 16th consecutive month and employer job postings for tech positions surpassed 400,000 in March, according to an analysis of the latest labor market data by CompTIA.
“The already tight labor market just became even tighter as competition for tech talent reaches near-record levels,” Herbert said in a statement. “For any employer relying on the old hiring playbook, it’s time to rethink approaches to recruiting and retention.”
IT jobs across the US increased by 19,000 in March. The unemployment rate for tech occupations is 1.3%, its lowest level since June 2019 and about one-third the current national unemployment rate (3.6%).
Janco is forecasting more than 138,000 new IT jobs will be created in 2022. The IT job market now has more than 3.85 million positions in the US. As of December 2021, Janco reported 3.72 million IT positions in the US.
“Based on our analysis, the IT job market and opportunities for IT professionals will continue to be positive, but not as broad in scope as in the last quarter of 2021,” Janco CEO M. Victor Janulaitis said in a statement. “CIOs are still posturing to hire more staff and expand technologies to address blockchain processing and security applications based on market conditions. However recent events, increased energy cost, and the specter of high inflation will harm IT job market growth.”
Janco
IT job growth in recent years.
According to the BLS, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 13% from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. IT is projected to add about 667,600 new jobs, with demand for those workers stemming from a greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security, according to the BLS.
The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $94,729 in January 2021, which was higher than the median annual wage for all occupations ($45,760). In January 2022, the median wage for IT positions had increased to $96,667 – an uptick of about 2.05%.
Conversely, new IT hires in the last quarter of 2021 were paid 5% to 6% more than existing staff, according to Janco.
“In conversation with several CIOs, we learned that increases for new hires in the 9% to 12% range were not uncommon,” Janulaitis said. “ It is not uncommon for IT pros who are highly skilled and experienced (over 10 years) to be offered salaries at $125,000 and above. Salary disparity is a driver of dissatisfaction and an increase in attrition rate among existing employees.”