Tech Hiring Ramps Up, According to CompTIA Employment Analysis
The US economy saw an increase in tech job postings in September; in Utah tech job postings dipped slightly, according to CompTIA.
Ecosystem
Today’s unexpectedly strong jobs report includes good news for tech employment nationwide. All four monthly metrics tracked by CompTIA were in positive territory in September, according to analysis by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the tech industry and workforce.
Here are some key takeaways:
- Tech companies added 8,583 workers.
- Tech occupations in the entire economy increased by 118,000 new positions.
- The unemployment rate for tech occupations fell to 2.5%.
- Employers increased the number of job postings for future tech hiring.
Utah tech worker numbers dipped slightly, according to the analysis. Utah employers listed 2,343 job posting for tech positions in September, down slightly from August which reported 2,443 tech postings. In the Salt Lake City metro area specifically there were 1,570 tech jobs postings in September, compared to 1,783 in August, 2024.
Across the US economy, the unemployment rate for technology occupations fell to 2.5% in September, the steepest month-over-month decrease in four years, according to CompTIA.
Overall tech industry employment increased by 8,583 net new positions for the month. Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals new hiring was primarily driven by the subsectors of cloud infrastructure, data processing and hosting (+6,000) and tech services and custom software development sector (+2,900).
Across the entire economy, tech occupation employment increased by 118,000 new positions. The significant increase pushed the tech unemployment rate back down to 2.5%, well below the national unemployment rate. An estimated 6.4 million professionals are employed in core tech occupations by companies of all types across the economy.
“It was never really a question of if, but when employers were going to resume hiring,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. “A broad mix of companies viewed recent economic developments as the greenlight to move forward in addressing their tech talent needs.”
Employer job postings for future tech hiring climbed for the second consecutive month, to more than 516,000 active postings, including 225,000 new listings added in September. Job openings for tech support specialists and database administrators saw the largest percent change increases for the month at 14%.
Employers continue to cast a wide net in their recruiting efforts as new job posting volumes for positions not specifying a four-year degree increased for the fifth straight month. CompTIA analysis of Lightcast job posting data indicates 46% of tech job postings in September did not specify that candidates require a four-year degree for hiring consideration.
Job postings were dispersed across industries, reflecting the universal nature of technology in the global economy. Companies in automotive (General Motors, Ford), financial services (JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo), healthcare (Cardinal Health, CVS Health, Humana, Intermountain Health), hospitality (Marriott International), and technology (Apple, Google, Meta, Oracle, TEKsystems) were among employers with the highest volumes of tech job postings last month.
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world’s leading information technology (IT) certification and training body. In December 2022, CompTIA acquired TestOut Corporation, a 20+ year old ed tech company based in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Its 80+ Utah employees work out of Kiln Lehi.
The “CompTIA Tech Jobs Report” is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.