IT Employment Remains Flat in July Amid Ongoing Economic Apprehension
IT employment in July was effectively flat, ticking down 0.01%, or a loss of 700 jobs, month-over-month, according to TechServe Alliance, the national trade association for the IT & Engineering Staffing and Solutions Industry. On a yearly basis, the IT job market contracted by 0.33%, with a loss of 17,700 positions. Employment in Engineering was up 1.21% in a year-over-year comparison, adding 34,400 jobs during the same period.
“Although IT employment showed small gains at the start of 2024 after 23 consecutive months of job losses, IT jobs have remained relatively flat over the past few months,” noted Mark Roberts, TechServe’s CEO. “While the overall job market had remained strong as IT jobs were declining throughout most of 2022 and 2023, July reflected a broader hiring slow down with lower-than-expected jobs growth and rising unemployment, which jumped to 4.3%.”
“Despite the labor market weakening which triggered stock market volatility, I do not anticipate any meaningful decline in IT employment during the coming months as we have already seen the ‘correction’ in IT hiring. Unfortunately, until the widespread apprehension over the economy dissipates, I am also not anticipating significant growth either,” added Roberts. “Longer term, the perennial demand for IT and critical IT skill sets has not gone away—many backlogged IT projects are awaiting budgets to open up once the cloud of uncertainty clears,” observed Roberts.