The number of IT jobs in the US was essentially unchanged in July compared to June, according to analysis by the TechServe Alliance, a trade association representing the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry. 

After steeper declines in IT employment during the second half of last year through the first half of this year, employment levels have stabilized the last three months — coming in effectively flat in both June and July, according to TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. 

“While many employers shed jobs as part of their effort to correct over-hiring during the pandemic and other employers pulled back on hiring amid the fear of recession — a recession that has yet to arrive, we appear to be poised for a shift in momentum,” Roberts said in a press release. 

IT employment edged down by 1,700 jobs in July from June — representing a decline of 0.03% — to a total of approximately 5.3 million jobs. 

On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was down by 118,400 jobs in July, a decrease of 2.17%. 

Roberts noted that while caution still seems to be the dominant watchword across the business community, there are regions and sectors that continue to hire: Computer systems and design services, management and technical consulting services and data processing, hosting and related services — sub-sectors that employ large numbers of IT professionals — all posted growth in July.   

“With pent-up demand amid an unemployment rate of only 2.4% in [the second quarter], we are going to see a return to the full-fledged war for IT talent once employers regain confidence in the economy,” he said. 

TechServe Alliance also tracks engineering employment. Engineering jobs edged upward by 0.18%, an increase of 5,000 engineering workers, in July compared to June to nearly 2.8 million jobs. Engineering employment rose by 2.49% on a year-over-year basis, reflecting an increase of 68,200 jobs.