The unemployment rate for tech occupations hit 1.3 percent in March, which is the lowest level since June 2019. It’s also notably lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.6 percent.
According to calculations by CompTIA, employer job postings for technology positions rose to 412,000 in March, an increase of 29,000 from February. It’s also the first time the monthly count of job postings has exceeded 400,000.
“The already tight labor market just became even tighter as competition for tech talent reaches near-record levels,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA, wrote in a statement accompanying the data. “For any employer relying on the old hiring playbook, it’s time to rethink approaches to recruiting and retention.”
Last week, CompTIA issued data suggesting that the tech workforce could add 178,000 new jobs in 2022, with growth in 48 states. Around 8.7 million people currently work in a tech-related occupation in the United States.
Demand for tech talent is spiking compensation; the average tech salary now stands at $104,566, according to the most recent Dice Tech Salary Report, having risen 6.9 percent between 2020 and 2021. For specialized occupations such as data science, salaries are even higher: According to Emsi Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes millions of job postings from across the country, the median salary for a data scientist currently stands at $112,359, and the profession is expected to grow significantly by 2030.
Other jobs primed for expansion over the next 10 years include cybersecurity specialists, web developers, database administrators and architects, IT support specialists, CIOs, and many more. As tech stacks evolve and business needs change, organizations everywhere will need a variety of technologists to not only keep things running, but also figure out future strategy. While knowing technical skills will prove invaluable to landing these positions, they’ll also demand empathy, communication, and creativity. Specializing in “hot” submarkets such as artificial intelligence (A.I.) will allow you to negotiate for even higher compensation.
