Jobs slowed in July, yet net IT employment is up

US employment declines were recorded in July, but despite the losses, net IT employment remains up by more than 203,000 positions since the outbreak of the coronavirus, according to analysis from the nonprofit COMPTIA, an association for the global technology industry.

The unemployment rate for IT jobs is 4.4%, which is less than half of the national employment rate of 10.2%, even though 17,000 positions in tech were scaled back, according to COMPTIA using data gathered from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics latest Employment Situation report.

For the last five years, an annual average of six months marked monthly job gains and the remaining six months, monthly job losses, according to the organization. YTD in 2020, there have been five months of job gains and two months of job losses.

SEE: Return to work: What the new normal will look like post-pandemic (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

“After several months of tech job gains exceeding expectations in a very difficult economic environment, a pause in tech hiring was not unexpected,” said Tim Herbert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA, in a press release.

US technology job postings totaled more than 235,000 in July (up from 220,000 in May)—while that number seems substantial, it represents a decline from the top US tech jobs posted during the pandemic (admittedly at the very start) in March, when figures were more than 350,000. Charts featured here are listed starting with the highest in the category.

Top of the charts

The top five job openings in the technology sector in July:

1. Software and application developers (70,600 job postings)

2. IT support specialists (21,400)

3. Systems engineers and architects (19,100)

4. Systems analysts (15,600)

5. IT project managers (13,300)

July’s top employers for IT job postings:

1. Amazon

2. Humana

3. Anthem Blue Cross

4. Stanley Black & Decker

5. Applied Materials

6. IBM

7. Raytheon

8. Leidos

9. Guidehouse

10. General Dynamics

Top IT positions in July for remote job postings:

1. Software developers, applications

2. IT support specialists

3. Systems engineers and architects

4. Web developers

5. Systems analysts

6. Cybersecurity analysts

7. Database administrators

8. IT project managers

9. Network and systems administrators

10. Business intelligence analysts

States with the highest number of IT job postings for July: 

1. California

2. Texas

3. Virginia

4. New York

5. North Carolina 

In the chart for top states for remote IT jobs the list is the same as above, with the exception of the No. 5 position: Virginia instead of North Carolina. 

And, while down from June, these metropolitan areas led the July list for the most IT job postings: 

1. New York

2. Washington

3. Dallas

4. San Francisco

5. Los Angeles

Among specific industries, the highest numbers of US job openings for IT positions 

1. Professional, scientific and technical services (39,956)

2. Finance and insurance (18,756)

3. Manufacturing (17,473)

4. Information (11,095)

5. Retail trade (7,042)

Despite modest gains, these states had the highest month-over-month increase in job postings:

1. Louisiana

2. Mississippi

3. West Virginia

4. Maine

5. North Dakota 

The analysis included charts for the top states and top metro areas for both IT and remote IT job postings comparing June and July, as well as the top industries for IT job postings. Lastly, the report includes a historical unemployment rate trending for the decade, for IT occupation. See chart below.

Developer Essentials Newsletter

From the hottest programming languages to the jobs with the highest salaries, get the developer news and tips you need to know.
Weekly

Sign up today

Also see