Major companies are axing employees, but this may not represent the need for technology professionals.
Uncover the reality in the job sector and why it might be a great time to be a candidate.
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In recent weeks headlines have been filled with news that technology companies are freezing their hiring strategies or laying staff off. Notably, Meta, Tesla, and Twitter have all let go of employees.
Despite these significant job cuts at leading firms, CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the IT industry, has found that job growth in the technology sector is actually on the rise.
Leveraging data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), CompTIA noted that technology industry companies added 20,300 net new workers in June. This marked the 19th consecutive month of job growth in the sector.
In comparison to this time last year, the first half of 2022 has seen job growth at 59% ahead of the first half of 2021.
In total, companies added 160,000 technology-focused workers in June and the unemployment rate for tech roles fell to 1.8%, which still compares favorably to the national rate which is 3.6%.
This trend looks like it may continue as there were 505,663 tech jobs listed in June, this is a 62% increase from June 2021.
Job growth in South-East Asia
Glint, one of Asia’s largest job platforms, also has some reassuring news for those looking for work in Asian markets.
The co-founder and CEO of Glint, Oswald Yeo told TechCrunch: “I think what we have seen is that there has been a lot of capital being pumped into the tech industry over the past two to three years in a major bull run. With that, we had a lot of companies that have also expanded rapidly.
“Singapore companies seem to be responding the most quickly to the changes in the macroeconomic environment. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, because, for some of these changes, you want to move quickly.”
On a more general note, Yeo added that although employers were becoming more reluctant to offer permanent contracts, “it’s not all doom and gloom”.
As an example, Yeo noted that there is a huge demand for technology and product talent on his platform. In fact, the number of jobs compared to candidates favors those looking for work in the tech sector.
The future of tech jobs
With the data and testimonies in mind, roles in the technology sector may not be at risk as headlines would indicate. However, it is important to remember that major companies freezing their hiring plans could be indicative of a drop-off in hiring for more companies in the future.
Speaking about US tech job growth and its positive trajectory, Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA said: “The stronger than expected job gains reaffirm the critical role of tech across every sector and every business in the economy.”
Importantly, Herbert stated that US job growth “also highlights the limitations in projecting company-specific hiring practices to the broader tech workforce.”
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