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IT jobs: New record high in August but growth slows; policy group data shows H-1B workers not taking US jobs

IT Staffing Report

IT jobs: New record high in August but growth slows; policy group data shows H-1B workers not taking US jobs

October 5, 2021
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IT jobs hit a new record high in August, but growth has “slowed to a trickle,” according to a report by the TechServe Alliance. Separately, an analysis released by the National Foundation for American Policy found the number of unique, active job postings for computer occupations in the US rose 15% in the six months ended Sept. 6, which helps underscore that H-1B visa workers are not taking jobs from US workers.

IT Jobs Reached a Record High

IT jobs reached a record high in the US in August with just a slight increase, according to a report by the TechServe Alliance, a trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry. IT employment was up by 0.06% to nearly 5.4 million jobs in August.

On a year-over-year basis, IT employment has increased by 4.60%, adding 236,400 IT workers.

“While IT employment reached a new all-time high, the rate of growth has slowed to a trickle,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts.

“In talking with owners and executives of IT staffing companies who specialize in recruiting IT professionals, demand is ‘off the charts’ with a limited supply of available talent. It is a candidate-driven market,” Roberts continued. “To be successful, a company interested in hiring IT professionals in high-demand skill sets must be willing to offer competitive wages (many do not), have a workplace culture that is attractive to workers, allow for maximum flexibility and make hiring decisions quickly. Fall short on any of these fronts, and you are likely to be on the losing side of the ‘war for talent.’”

Separately, engineering employment rose by 0.41% in August to a total of more than 2.6 million jobs. On a year-over-year basis, engineering employment increased by 3.08% since August 2020, adding 78,600 engineering workers.

Policy Group: H-1B workers not taking US jobs

The number of unique, active job postings for computer occupations in the US rose 15% in the six months ended Sept. 6, according to an analysis released by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan policy research organization.

In all, there were more than 1.2 million unique, active job vacancy postings in the US as of Sept. 6. The NFAP says this number helps underscore that H-1B visa workers are not taking jobs from US workers. The organization noted there are more than 20 times as many job vacancy postings in computer occupations as new H-1B petitions typically used by companies in computer occupations each year.

NFAP also noted there are likely many more openings than publicly posted. Additionally, it argued, there is not a fixed number of jobs - and people with high skills often create more jobs for people with complementary skills.

“Companies have an ongoing need for more highly skilled professionals to grow, and an insufficient number of available workers slows growth in the US economy and encourages businesses to move more work outside the United States,” said Stuart Anderson, executive director of NFAP.

It also noted the number of job openings at large users of H-1B workers as evidence the visa holders are not taking jobs from US workers. For example, it cited Amazon with more than 20,000 job vacancy postings in computer occupations as of Sept. 6.

The postings in computer occupations include 435,639 active job vacancy postings for software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers, 112,990 for network and computer system administrators, 110,134 for computer systems analysts, 76,126 for information security analysts and 47,181 for electrical engineers. NFAP said these occupations track those eligible for H-1B visas, according to Department of Homeland Security and US Bureau of Labor Statistics data.