Tech Market Insights
For HR and talent professional leaders who are looking ahead to 2024, understanding market conditions like those below becomes crucial as they prepare to do more with less and be successful in supporting their organizations. For a more encompassing view of the talent market, see our resource collection, rich in market intelligence and helpful guides to serve as a starting point for leading thoughtful conversations about effective talent attraction programs and talent planning.
New job postings within Technology tick up as we enter Q4
In September, we see that net new hiring is ramping up in specific areas, while employers are overall reducing the hiring activity from prior periods. There are about two times the number of active postings vs the number of new postings in the Software Publishers industry as of Aug 2023 – with roughly 14K more active job postings than new job postings. Historically, there are more active postings than new postings. This trend holds true in the current market, but uniquely, new postings are trending up and active postings are trending down. This shows that companies are taking down old postings and putting up new ones.
This shift may signify that the new job postings are geared towards filling mission-critical roles, while there's a scaling back of hiring for perennial positions.
Changing market dynamics and the influence of AI could be prompting companies to prioritize different skills and initiatives. While discerning a clear trend is challenging, the combination of decreasing layoffs (which have declined since August) and an increase in New Postings suggests a potential stabilization in an industry that has experienced significant volatility over the past four years.
It's worth noting that despite the layoffs seen in the tech industry in 2022 and 2023, unemployment within tech skillsets has remained low. Some experts have speculated that after large tech companies let go of their coveted development and engineering teams – the talent was snapped up quickly by competitors or talent has gone to serve in tech roles within other industries like hospitality, manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. While headlines have focused on large corporate layoffs, those who lost their jobs have quietly looked to the job boards, the online platforms, and reconnected with recruiters to find new roles.
Looking at demand for occupations and skillsets over time
A thorough examination of unique job postings spanning the four-year period from 2019 to 2023 reveals noteworthy trends in job demand and occupation preferences.
Overall Decrease in Unique Job Postings: Across all Technology occupations, there has been a 35% decline in unique job postings. This decline reflects the evolving landscape of the industry, influenced by factors such as technological advancements, market conditions, and shifting corporate priorities.
Software Engineers Remain Dominant: Despite the overall decrease in job postings, Software Engineers have retained their position as a cornerstone of the technology job market. However, it's worth noting that there has been a 32% decrease in posting activity for this occupation over the same four-year period. This suggests that companies may be altering their approach to software development or recalibrating the composition of their technical teams.
Rise in Demand for Computer Systems Engineers / Architects: A significant observation is the changing occupational mix within the technology sector. Notably, demand for Computer Systems Engineers / Architects has grown over the past four years and found a solid footing in the market. This shift underscores the growing importance and centrality of the function engineers/architects play as cloud-based systems become the norm across nearly every industry and sector. While demand has increased 33% over the past four years for these professionals, the talent pool is niche and expensive, with the discipline requiring extensive education and prior experience. Similarly, sourcing these professionals requires expertise and diligence.
Decline in Sales Representatives Demand: In contrast, Sales Representatives within software publishing have witnessed a substantial reduction in demand. Unique job postings for Sales Representatives have decreased by a notable 50% over the same four-year period. This decline may reflect transformations in sales strategies, evolving market dynamics, or a shift in the nature of technology sales.
One Question Stands Out: Where are the job postings for Artificial Intelligence (AI)? While AI has captured headlines and imaginations, practical recruitment tells a different story. Job postings for AI roles boast impressive salaries, reaching up to $900,000. But these roles are highly specialized, and most companies can only afford to hire a small dedicated AI team, or slowly develop machine learning-related responsibilities within the existing software engineer teams.
Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, the question of how companies will find ways to integrate AI into their operations remains unanswered. Skill development and workforce planning will undoubtedly play a critical role. Skills like API integration and Automation, seen in today's job postings, may serve as steppingstones to the impending AI revolution. Just as postings for Architects have risen as the cloud has matured, so too we anticipate seeing postings for AI accelerate as AI matures.
Drilling down into Software Developer / Engineer postings provides sourcing strategy
At LevelUP, we use reports like this to uncover insights that prove incredibly valuable when shaping precise sourcing strategies, particularly as we dive into specific regions and skillsets. A look at the sought-after skills in job postings tells a nuanced story. Alongside the expected demand for proficiency in full-stack development with Python, SQL, and AWS, we see a dual focus, not only on application development but also on bolstering back-end infrastructure.
We also see that legacy programming languages like C# and C++ remain in demand, often hidden beneath the appealing title of "Application Developer." This observation underscores the art of job title crafting in the tech industry.
In conclusion
As we enter the final quarter of 2023, this Tech Market Snapshot provides useful high-level insights for HR and talent leaders preparing for an evolving hiring environment in the tech sector. This report underscores the need for strategic talent planning as we navigate the ever-evolving tech talent landscape, where modern and legacy skills coexist beneath evolving job titles. Together, we can position ourselves for success amidst industry transformations.
For a broader look at the talent market along with the 5 Things to Keep in Mind for Your 2024 Talent Strategy, download our most recent Market Insights.
LevelUP’s Market Intelligence team helps organizations gain a competitive edge with focused insights into the talent landscape, helping you make informed decisions. Our comprehensive analysis of talent supply and demand trends, coupled with up-to-date compensation data, empowers your organization to optimize recruitment strategies, retain top talent, and stay ahead of the curve. Make data-driven choices with our tailored Market Intelligence solutions. Contact us to learn more.