The number of IT jobs in the US remained roughly flat in August from July, edging down by just 1,300 to a total of 5.3 million, according to an analysis by the TechServe Alliance, a trade association for the technology staffing and solutions industry.

“After a significant downdraft in IT employment through April, IT employment has been effectively “running in place” the last four months,” Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance, said in a press statement.

As IT employment has stayed relatively flat, so has hiring — many employers have paused or slowed their hiring decisions, Roberts said.

“While the caution displayed by employers is largely attributable to the fear of a recession — a recession that has yet to arrive — we fully expect the hiring landscape to change once there is sustained evidence that we are not headed into a downturn,” he said. “Digital transformation and IT projects critical to maintaining competitiveness have not gone away with many companies feeling a new sense of urgency to pursue an AI-led strategy.”

In a report released this week, IT staffing provider Lorien noted that tech workers continue to demand sizable salaries despite the hiring slowdown.

Separately, the TechServe Alliance reported engineering employment rose by 2.40% year over year in August, adding 65,800 jobs.