Talent Shortage Continues to Stymie IT Jobs Growth Rate
While the economy gave a pleasant surprise with an addition of 467,000 jobs in January (and a sizable bump in December based on the revised numbers) technology-related job gains remained flat. The IT sector added only 4,000 jobs in January. This is a sequential increase of a paltry 0.08% to 5,412,300 jobs, according to TechServe Alliance, the national trade association of the IT & Engineering Staffing and Solutions Industry. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.35% since January 2021, adding 124,400 IT workers.
Engineering employment grew by 0.15% sequentially to 2,666,200. On a year-over-year basis, engineering employment increased by 3.61% since January 2021, adding 92,900 engineering workers.
“Demand for IT professionals is strong with companies seeking talent to accelerate their digital strategies. However, IT and engineering staffing executives tell us that many critical job roles stay open for extended periods of time requiring extraordinary recruiting efforts to attract candidates,” said Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. “Companies have to understand that in today’s environment of the Great Reassessment and high workforce expectations, remote and hybrid work policies are table stakes. Additionally, if they want to attract and retain their IT workforce, they must revise their compensation structure to stay competitive in the new normal.”