IT Employment Growth Slows to a Trickle; Engineering Employment Surges
In August, IT employment increased by 0.06% to 5,374,700 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 has increased by 4.60% since August 2020 adding 236,400 IT workers.
Engineering employment grew by 0.41% sequentially to 2,632,700. On a year-over-year basis, engineering employment increased by 3.08% since August 2020, adding 78,600 engineering workers.
“While IT employment reached a new all-time high, the rate of growth has slowed to a trickle,” observed Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance. “In talking with owners and executives of IT staffing companies who specialize in recruiting IT professionals, demand is ‘off the charts’ with a limited supply of available talent. It is a candidate-driven market. To be successful, a company interested in hiring IT professionals in high demand skill sets must FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brittany Jones 703-838-2050 x.106 jones@techservealliance.org TechServe Alliance TechServe Alliance Employment Indices | September 8, 2021 be willing to offer competitive wages (many do not), have a workplace culture that is attractive to workers, allow for maximum flexibility, and make hiring decisions quickly. Fall short on any of these fronts, and you are likely to be on the losing side of the ‘war for talent’” added Roberts.
The following table presents information about the total number of jobs in certain sectors that provide a significant amount of employment for IT and engineering professionals.
Technical note: TechServe Alliance’s IT Employment Index and Engineering Employment Index are the first specific measurements of IT and engineering employment. These unique measurements of total IT and engineering employment are created monthly by studying the ongoing staffing patterns of a dozen IT and computer related occupations in 22 industries and industry sectors employing significant numbers of IT workers and nearly two dozen engineering occupations in 30 select industries and industry sectors employing significant numbers of engineering workers. Both the monthly IT Employment and Engineering Employment Indices are based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, which is subject to monthly revisions, and is revised accordingly. Both indices are also subject to periodic revisions and annual rebenchmarking that includes revisions to several years of employment data, which also may incorporate new occupational definitions. Both indices were re-benchmarked going back several years through January 2021 data. In addition, both indices are subject to minor revisions to March and April data. The next major revision will be published in February 2022.
About TechServe Alliance
TechServe Alliance is the national trade association of the IT & Engineering staffing and solutions industry. IT & Engineering staffing and solutions firms count on TechServe Alliance to keep their leadership informed, engaged, and connected. TechServe Alliance serves as the voice of the industry before the policymakers and the national and trade press. By providing access to the knowledge and best practices of an entire industry and tapping the “collective scale” of its members, TechServe Alliance supports its members in the efficient delivery of best-in-class IT & Engineering staffing and solutions for clients and exceptional professional opportunities for every consultant.
