Employment Reports Show Rosy IT Job Outlook

Good news finally on the IT employment landscape and job outlook as two new reports about occupational trends and job vacancies indicates the tide might have finally turned in the tech industry.

A new Conference Board Report shows more jobs are available, with a 59,900 online job listing mark hit in September and a million jobs advertised online since June 2009.

On the IT front, demand for computer and mathematical science workers rose 15,200 in September. The two occupations posted the largest September increase, and hit 587,900, offsetting the 14,000 lost in August. The increase was largely due to rising demand for computer software engineers (systems software) and Web developers.

The Conference Board said advertised vacancies in this field are at their highest level since September 2008, and that demand for workers in this occupational category exceeds the number of unemployed looking for work by just over 3 to 1.

The report says the gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies in August was 3.51 unemployed for every advertised vacancy, which is a nice dip from a peak point of 4.73 in October 2009.

Conference Board VP June Shelp says labor demand is now taking a “modest growth” rate.

The latest Census figures also indicate a resurgence in IT hiring and job opportunities. As of last year an estimated 3.4 million people were in computer and math related jobs. And while U.S. employment dropped by 6 million between 2008 and 2009, IT and the math job segments held their own.

The American Community Survey report, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, shows Colorado to be a IT hiring hotbed with a 2.2% increase in the tech workforce, and Kentucky and North Carolina boasting 1.8% jumps.

New Hampshire, the District of Columbia and Tennessee are at the other end of the spectrum with a 2.8% drop in IT jobs, and minus 2.7% (for both Tennessee and D.C.



For more insight on IT job trends and what skills are hot, read this article at TechCareers.com.

By: Judy Mottl