TechServe Alliance says tech employment in the U.S. hit an all time high in January. The 15,800 jobs created during the month brought total employment to an estimated 4,339,800 workers.
The one year increase of 4.14% compares to a national jobs increase of 1.52% and exceeds even the growth in the health sector, which increased by 2.26% between January 2012 and last month.
Noting that IT employment got off to a “strong start” last month, TechServe CEO Mark Roberts said, “Despite the lingering uncertainty with the U.S. and global economies, I anticipate demand for IT professionals will remain robust throughout 2013.”
With unemployment in the sector below 4%, the hunt for IT talent is only going to get harder this year.
Rona Borre, CEO of Chicago’s recruiting and tech-staffing firm Instant Technology LLC., told Crain’s Chicago Business, that the market for tech talent is “the tightest I’ve seen it since the tech boom in the late 1990s.”
That view is shared by executives of startups in sectors from software to life sciences. Nine out of 10 companies are hiring, but facing difficulty in finding and keeping the talent they need.
Silicon Valley Bank surveyed 750 company leaders learning that 87% of them find recruiting talent with the skills they need to be “somewhat” or “extremely challenging.” Two-thirds of them say the biggest challenge they have to retaining talent is “finding and competing for the people with the right skills.” The cost of salaries and benefits, though a concern, came in a distant second. Most critical are the STEM skills, the executives said.
