CompTIA recently released its monthly assessment of tech jobs. The group found that employers increased their search for the information technology workers accelerated in May 2024. CompTIA’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report (PDF) data reveals that the tech sector added 2,181 jobs last month, increasing employment to nearly 5.6 million workers.
Artificial Intelligence tech jobs
New job postings for tech positions reached 209,000 in May. This was an increase of nearly 27,000 from April and the highest total since June 2023, CompTIA reports. In total, there were almost 427,000 active tech job postings last month. The increase of job postings for AI occupations or positions requiring AI skills totaled more than 26,000 from April 2024. AI related jobs accounted for 12% of all tech openings.
Tech jobs posted in Michigan
A closer look at the state-level BLS labor data reveals that Michigan was one of seven states with tech job postings growing by more than 1,000 jobs.
- Texas,
- California,
Illinois,- Georgia,
- New York, and
- Michigan.
In Michigan, there were 5,811 tech job postings, an increase of 1,258 from April 2024. The Lansing, MI metro led the nation in increases in tech job postings. Lansing saw a 37 percent increase in tech job postings from the previous month.
Big trends
Shifting focus to the broader landscape, the unemployment rate for tech jobs dropped to 2.5%, well below the national rate of 4%. Tech jobs throughout the economy declined by 42,000, less than 1% of the total base of tech jobs of almost 6.4 million.
Interestingly, the CompTIA report shows that employers are widening their search for tech talent. Notably, 46% of active openings in April didn’t specifically require candidates to have a four-year degree. The percentages were even higher for certain positions, such as network support specialists (86%), IT support specialists (73%), network and systems administrators (55%), web and UI/UX designers (51%), and database administrators (48%).
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According to Foote Partners‘ latest IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index, jobs with rising market value include those related to A.I. and machine learning, cloud, cybersecurity and data science. Many of those positions pay a hefty premium—in many cases, above the average tech salary of $111,193.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT for a while and has blogged from the Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that has caught my attention since 2005. You can follow me on Facebook. Email the Bach Seat here.