The U.S. tech job market is experiencing contradictory trends, with overall IT employment growing while hiring in tech sector companies declined in February.
According to CompTIA’s latest analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, tech employment across all industries increased by 177,000 positions, despite a net loss of 11,514 jobs in tech services and manufacturing.
The tech unemployment rate rose to 3.3%, remaining below the national average of 4.1%. While new tech job postings fell for the month, they are still trending 15% higher year-over-year, signaling ongoing demand.
James Stanger, chief technology evangelist for CompTIA, explained IT roles in highest demand include those for infrastructure, data, development and cybersecurity.
“When it comes to ‘worker bees’, we need data analysts, cybersecurity analysts, cybersecurity engineers, cloud software developers with an AI focus, network engineers with a strong background in multi-vendor troubleshooting, quality assurance testers and database architects,” he said.
Those workers need leadership, which is why chief information officers (CIOs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) remain in high demand.
“One thing to consider is that tech careers continue to outpace the growth of traditional occupations, such as mechanics, accountants and marketing professionals,” Stanger added.
Keeping Skill Sets Current
Scott Wheeler, cloud practice lead at Asperitas, said the most likely factor in the rising unemployment rate in technology is a rise in efficiency in delivering technology solutions paired with the move toward new technologies, like AI, which make old skill sets obsolete.
“In other words, we’re seeing structural unemployment where candidates’ skill sets don’t match the requirements for the jobs available,” he said.
Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee saw the largest increases in tech job postings, while Washington, Baltimore and Nashville led metro areas.
The industries most actively hiring tech talent include professional services, finance, manufacturing and information technology.
Artificial intelligence (AI) skills continue to be in high demand, with job listings requiring AI expertise more than doubling (116%) compared to last year.
Hiring for dedicated AI job roles surged 79% year-over-year, reinforcing AI’s growing impact on the workforce.
Wheeler said for experienced IT professionals, learning by doing is usually a good way to acquire knowledge, and the good news is that many leading open-source AI models, such as DeepSeek, LLaMA and Mistral, are available.
“Using these AI models in a small hands-on project is usually the best way to start,” he said. “During the project, AI experts can address questions through YouTube videos and AI LLMs can be used to search for examples and answers to questions.”
A significant trend in the IT job market is the shift away from four-year degree requirements.
Nearly half of all tech job postings in February did not require a bachelor’s degree, with roles such as network support specialists (85%), tech support specialists (71%) and computer programmers (57%) showing the highest percentages of degree flexibility.
Wheeler said many organizations are hiring from non-traditional schools, like coding boot camps.
Additionally, experience trumps degrees in the technology industry, so there is a desire for technology professionals to have referenceable projects to present as a testament to their skills in specific technology areas.
“These differing hiring practices come from both the need to hire qualified technology professionals and companies looking to reduce their IT costs by hiring less experienced and/or educated resources,” he said.
Stanger put it succinctly: Practice is replacing pedigree.
He explained organizations are focusing on “skills-based” hiring to combat the onslaught of new technologies and to also counter market uncertainty.
“Sometimes that’s also called skills-first hiring,” Stanger said. “Managers want to hire people with specific, hands-on skills, rather than a four-year degree.”
He added key skills including project management, advanced cybersecurity techniques, data analytics and soft skills.
“Job seekers need to position themselves by demonstrating their ability to provide unique contributions to organizational value,” Stanger said. “Want to apply for a job? Then, it’s all about demonstrating how you’ve applied tech creatively in a real-life situation.”
