The tech workforce saw modest movement in the latest national employment data, according to CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the tech industry and workforce.
Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) #JobsReport data reveals the tech unemployment rate for the month fell slightly to 2.5%, matching the low end of the rate for 2024. The national unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2% in November.
Employment within the technology industry sector was essentially flat with a decline of 1,636 jobs for the month.1The tech sector employs nearly 5.6 million people, which translates to a percentage decline of essentially 0%.
Tech professions throughout the economy declined by 6,000 in a national workforce of nearly 6.5 million workers.2
“While a flat month in the aggregate as some employers take a breather, the data continues to highlight the diversity of hiring activity across the tech workforce,” Tim Herbert, chief research officer, CompTIA. “Across industry sectors, metro areas and company sizes harnessing tech talent remains a top priority.”
Active employer job postings for new hiring totaled more than 475,000 in November, down about 42,000 from October.3 Companies added nearly 184,000 new tech job postings last month, with employers in consulting, finance, manufacturing and technology hardware, software and services among the most active.
Artificial intelligence (AI) hiring momentum continues to build. In the aggregate employers recorded nearly 331,000 active job postings throughout 2024 in recruiting for AI job roles and AI skills, a year-over-year increase of 71%.
Across all tech occupations 44% of November postings did not specify a four-year degree requirement for applicants. Some occupations had notably higher percentages, including network support specialists (84%) and tech support specialists (71%).
The data indicates hiring for work from home (WFH) positions is holding steady at about 20% of total tech job recruiting. On a hiring activity volume basis, the top WFH positions include software developers, IT project managers, data scientists and analysts, tech support specialists, and systems analysts.
The “CompTIA Tech Jobs Report” is available at https://www.comptia.org/content/tech-jobs-report.