Tech jobs keep rolling along as sector remains strong

Don’t call it a comeback; tech’s been here for years, rocking its peers.

Tech job postings increased for the second straight month and active postings registered the highest month over month increase in a year, according to CompTIA.

The IT certification firm’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for January found that tech industry employment went up by 17,833 jobs from December.

Number time. That increase was driven primarily by the technology services and software development subsector, which added 14,500 jobs. Cloud infrastructure and tech (mainly semiconductor) manufacturing came in at a distant second and third, with 2,100 and 1,400 jobs, respectively. On the other end, telecommunications listings dropped by about 3,400 positions.

There are currently more than 392,000 active tech job postings; almost 178,000 were added in January. That’s 33,727 more than in December 2023. CompTIA said that was the largest month over month increase in the last 12 months—even as total tech listings dropped by around 117,000.

Unemployment in the tech sector, at 2.3%, continued to come in well under the national average of 3.7%. California, Texas, and Virginia led US states for tech job postings, with 18,590; 18,142; and 12,110, respectively. Top metro areas were DC (12,804), New York (10,102), and Dallas (8,862).

AI in charge. The role of AI in the tech jobs market is growing, CompTIA found. Positions in the subsector bumped up by around 2,000, to 17,479 jobs. The top five states for AI positions were California (2,650), Massachusetts (1,257), Texas (1,246), New York (1,132), and Virginia (890)..

AI is a field where IT professionals can expect to continue to see business investment. CompTIA Chief Research Officer Tim Herbert told IT Brew’s Billy Hurley that keeping abreast of developments in AI is becoming essential—especially for cybersecurity professionals.

“If you are, say, a cybersecurity professional right now, you probably at least want to have an understanding of some of the security implications of AI; you know, what does it mean for how they’re managing both defenses but also potentially offensive techniques to cybersecurity,” Herbert said.

Billy Hurley contributed reporting.