Tech hiring ended an otherwise desultory year on an upswing, dropping the sector’s unemployment rate to its lowest level in more than a year, according to an analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest job report by IT trade group CompTIA.
The tech unemployment rate dipped to 2% in December, its best since November 2023, as companies added 7,000 net new technology positions. The national unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.
Demand for positions encompassing artificial intelligence (AI) drove the late-year comeback. Employers added more than 165,000 new tech job postings in December, for a total of 434,415 active job postings. Software engineering, cybersecurity and data science were the leading categories.
A frenetic push from the C-suite for AI implementation, coupled with a dearth of available talent, propelled demand for workers in that space, DHI Group CEO Art Zeile told Yahoo Finance.
Companies with the largest numbers of December job postings included Amazon.com Inc., as well as consultants and professional services specializing in AI, such as Accenture, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Robert Half, said CompTIA.
That collective exhale you might hear came from Silicon Valley, Austin, Boston, Seattle and other major tech hubs after a particularly rough patch.
Tech jobs were an endangered species for most of 2024, as they were the previous few years, as companies cut back on their binge hiring during Covid and pursued specialists in artificial intelligence (AI). Last year, more than 150,000 jobs were slashed across over 500 companies that include some of the biggest, like Amazon, Tesla Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc.
Indeed, the bloodletting isn’t over: Meta is preparing to shave 5% of its workforce, or about 3,600 of its “lowest performers,” according to an internal memo posted on the company’s Workplace forum Tuesday. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said 2025 will be an “intense year” and he wants to “make sure we have the best people on our teams,” CNBC reported.
Still, the U.S. tech market seems poised for job growth this year, says Karat and Harris Poll’s latest Tech Hiring Trends report.
AI engineering roles are a top hiring priority: 60% of U.S. tech managers are hiring for AI engineer positions, compared with 35% last year. The surge in AI-focused recruitment is complemented by a growing need for full-stack engineers who are essential in building AI systems, marking the second-largest increase in hiring priorities.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of organizations expect to train current workers to fill cybersecurity, software, data and other IT skill gaps, up from 59% in 2024, according to CompTIA.
