IT Sector Employment Inches Up In November, CompTIA Analysis Reveals

Net gain of 1,400 jobs for month, led by technology services and software positions

The U.S. information technology (IT) sector recorded its fifth consecutive month of job growth in November, according to the IT Employment Tracker released today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology association.

The software and technology services category led November job growth, adding 5,400 new positions, according to CompTIA’s analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation report (#jobsreport) released this morning. For the year, the IT sector has added 79,500 new jobs in software and services.

Reversing nine months of declines, computer and electronics products manufacturing employment increased in November, albeit by a modest 900 positions. For the year manufacturing jobs are down 8,100.

Job losses in data processing, hosting and related services (down 2,100), telecommunications (down 2,000) and other information services, including search portals (down 800) offset the November employment gains in the other categories.

The second component of the nation’s IT workforce – IT occupations across all other industries – had a strong showing in November, with an estimated net gain of 114,000 jobs. For 2016, IT occupations show an estimated net gain of about 200,000 jobs.

“With an estimated unemployment rate for IT occupations of 2.9 percent in November, the labor market for in demand skills in many markets remains tight,” noted Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA.

Two industry executives who sit on the CompTIA Board of Directors commented on the latest jobs report.

Quy "Q" Nguyen, CEO of Allyance Communications, a global communication solutions provider based in Irvine, Calif., is optimistic about the tech job market headed into 2017.

"With security, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud initiatives leading the discussions, we see an on-going demand for seasoned professionals with these skill sets,” Nguyen remarked. “IoT has tremendous momentum, cloud is constantly evolving and security risk is a formidable concern for every business. These three components will be a major driving force for quality talent and long-term job security."

"IT jobs are as ubiquitous as barista jobs, in large and tiny markets, but they are high paying, upwardly moving and much more rewarding," said Amy Kardel, co-founder of Clever Ducks, an IT service provider in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and chairwoman of the CompTIA Board of Directors.

The CompTIA IT Employment Tracker report is available at http://www.slideshare.net/comptia/comptia-it-employment-tracker-december-2016.

For more CompTIA research on technology employment, skills and workforce trends visit https://www.comptia.org/insight-tools/business?tags=it%20workforce.