Many headlines in the news lately have been about tech companies laying off workers—thousands of them. For example, Google recently laid off 12,000 people, Microsoft let go 10,000 employees, and Amazon cut more than 18,000 jobs. But the truth behind the headlines is that companies are doing more hiring than firing of technology experts. According to a recent CNBC post, job openings, voluntary departures, and wage growth—all indicators of a demand for workers—are high.
According to a recent New York Times article, despite the growth in machine abilities, “there’s still huge demand for flesh and blood in the tech sector.” The article cites Bureau of Labor Statistics survey results demonstrating that, in January 2023, the unemployment rate in computer and mathematical occupations was just 1.5%, much lower than that of the overall workforce.
Because technology is now part of every company regardless of its offerings, many tech jobs are outside of the tech industry. According to the CNBC post, “Retail, finance, professional services, travel, government, aerospace, health care, and other industries are seeking people with tech skills to build their online presence.” So, it’s not so much that tech jobs are going away. They’re just shifting. While Google and Microsoft might be letting tech workers go, others like Morgan Stanley and John Deere are snapping them up.
In the sections below, we explore the top jobs that companies are hiring today. We also look at where, geographically, and in which industries the tech jobs are and offer some tips for employers who want to hire tech workers under the current conditions.
Data Science
The amount of data being generated by businesses continues to grow, and all industries need people to analyze and interpret it. That’s exactly what data scientists do, and that’s why their skills are in high demand. The New York Times article states, “There’s enormous demand for people who know how to work with big data, namely the terabytes of proprietary information that companies are learning to sift through for business insights.”
These professionals use advanced analytics technologies such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive modeling. They must be adept not just technically but also at thinking critically to arrive at informed interpretations of the data they are working with. Their work enables companies to be smarter about planning, marketing, and responding to customer demands. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 36% growth in data scientist jobs between 2021 and 2031.
Systems Analysis
Every industry is different, and every company within each industry has its own way of doing things as well. Therefore, the computer systems required to perform work can be dissimilar from one organization to the next. Computer systems analysts study individual business models and determine which technologies would work best to support them.
They consider hardware, software, and network systems and how much the company can spend. They may also make recommendations based on in-depth industry knowledge. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 50,900 systems analyst jobs to be created from 2021 to 2031.
Computer Network Architecture
Communication remains a critical component of well-functioning businesses across industries, and communication networks are its backbone. These networks include WANs, LANs, and intranets. Computer network architects are the professionals who put them together.
Their responsibilities include gathering information from various departments in the company about communication needs, creating and implementing networking plans, purchasing equipment, maintaining equipment, and keeping abreast of hardware and software upgrades. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 7,500 new jobs will be created between 2021 and 2031 in this area.
Salesforce Engineer
Salesforce is the most common CRM platform, and CRM is critical to operations within many companies. CRM systems collect and manage customer information to provide insight needed to encourage buyers to take the next step on the customer journey. These systems improve communication with customers and enable businesses to recognize how to improve.
Combined with the fact that Salesforce is often seen as confusing by many who try to use it, these factors are resulting in Salesforce engineers being in great demand. According to TechRepublic, “A Salesforce engineer builds and improves Salesforce systems for companies based on their specific needs.” Job duties may include integrating third-party apps, fixing technical issues, or training employees on how to use Salesforce.
DevOps
Software development can be a complex process that takes many professionals with varying skills to implement. They include software engineers, software designers, UX specialists, QA specialists, and testers. Another of those roles is DevOps, which combines software development and operations to solve software lifecycle problems.
With an understanding of both coding and engineering, DevOps engineers work on the operational side to address development issues. They use tools like integration servers, testing tools, monitoring programs, and network protocols. The following video more thoroughly explains DevOps.
Information Security
Given the ongoing rise of cyber crimes, one of the most important considerations in technology today is security. Companies that fall prey to attacks can suffer massive losses in time, money, and reputation. Many companies that experience such an attack do not recover. And all those consequences don’t even take into consideration the damage that can occur for customers, who may spend years trying to recover financial losses or a stolen identity.
Information security specialists use security technology and processes to protect company assets from malware and other types of attacks. These professionals plan and carry out security strategies, monitor systems, address breaches, conduct testing, and stay informed about new threats. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 56,500 new positions to be added in this area between 2021 and 2031.
Cloud
Cloud computing continues to grow, with companies taking advantage of greater security, flexibility, and cost-efficiency by moving applications and development with cloud providers. But doing so isn’t always straightforward, with complex arrangements such as multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, as well as public and private deployments. Cloud engineers are needed to ensure the most effective use of cloud services.
These professionals identify cloud computing services and solutions to help companies meet their goals, which typically revolve around greater efficiency. They interface with executives and others within the company to ascertain those goals and share information about the most appropriate approaches.
User Experience
Today, any company that has an online presence (in other words, just about every company) must consider the user experience (UX). That is, the ease with which visitors are able to complete intended tasks, such as getting the information they need, communicating with an employee, or making a purchase.
The New York Times article stated that “people are irreplaceable for jobs that require understanding human needs, such as designing the user interface of a company’s website.” UX specialists work with website and software developers to ensure users can seamlessly perform tasks, leading to greater loyalty, better reviews, more referrals, and higher revenue.
AI and ML
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are becoming a part of many industries, including retail, tourism, hospitality, and healthcare. According to TechTarget, specialists in this area “develop AI and ML technologies for computer programs and other machines to simulate how the human mind works.”
These professionals build systems that process enormous amounts of data to generate algorithms that can learn and make predictions. A LinkedIn report noted that Machine Learning Engineer is one of the 25 top U.S. roles growing in demand.
Software Development
Even with the advent of AI tools that can code, the need for engineers to build software hasn’t diminished. These professionals create programs, applications, apps, networks, and operating systems. Software engineers write the code for software, but their duties aren’t limited to that task.
They are also involved in requirements gathering, feature identification, testing, and documentation. They help to ensure that end users of the products they build can easily accomplish what they set out to do. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of software developer positions is projected to rise 25% from 2021 to 2031.
IT Management
While many specializations—such as the other entries on this list—have sprung up in tech, straightforward IT is still a high need within companies across industries. IT managers take responsibility for organizations’ long-term goals and the short-term initiatives needed to accomplish them. For example, an IT manager might work with a cloud engineer to move some company processes to the cloud. Or they might initiate a program to teach professionals low-code development, which enables non-tech workers to create their own software.
To perform such planning, IT managers collaborate with executives and upper management about important matters like hardware purchasing, software upgrades, and security. The Bureau of Labor Statistics foresees 82,400 new IT manager jobs being created between 2021 and 2031.
Certain Industries
Every industry needs tech workers, but according to Insider, these professionals are in especially high demand in insurance, healthcare, retail, government, and banking. The reasons aren’t particularly mysterious. Take insurance, for example. Customers rely on seamless websites that help them view their policies, pay their bills, and file claims. And insurance companies rely on algorithms to determine policy rates.
The healthcare industry is putting more information into digital form as well, such as with electronic health records, which are digital versions of patients’ paper charts. Patients can now go into health system portals to make or cancel appointments, view notes from recent office visits, get test results, and communicate directly with healthcare practitioners. As with insurance, healthcare companies need behind-the-scenes computing expertise as well.
In retail, customers want a smooth e-commerce experience in which they can easily navigate between products, view helpful images, read reviews, find policies, make purchases, and initiate returns. They also need multichannel communication methods that enable them to switch between, for example, social media messaging and a phone call without having to repeat information. Behind the scenes, retail companies need the ability to analyze customer behavior and implement new ways of meeting their demands.
Federal, state, and local government agencies, especially those that provide services to residents, must track information and data, much of it quite sensitive. These processes require professionals who can provide the right systems and programs to implement those services, as well as interfaces to help residents find them. Additionally, some government agencies must analyze tremendous amounts of data to provide information they are entrusted to deliver, such as environmental safety standards.
Perhaps more than any other industry, banking faces high stakes with its technology, as any errors can result in catastrophic consequences for customers. Yet those customers want the same things that other industries offer in terms of a positive UX and a wide variety of features. Banks must also perform ongoing analysis of the markets and track things like interest rates to create the right financial products. An offshoot of banking, financial technology (fintech) provides services that make retail and other industries more effective.
In all these fields, technology professionals are needed to develop both customer-facing and behind-the-scenes systems and keep them running effectively. All the roles mentioned in the above sections contribute to keeping these industries and others running smoothly and to looking forward toward future technology innovations.
Tips for Hiring Tech Workers
Any company looking for tech help should keep in mind that tech workers are still in high demand. To find the best talent, consider using some of the following strategies:
- Focus on skills. Conventional job applicant vetting has focused on numerous qualifications, including skills, experience, and degrees or certifications. But many companies are shifting degrees, certifications, and number of years in the field from must-haves to nice-to-haves. If candidates have both the hard and soft skills to excel in a position, hiring companies are wise to snap them up and help them gain any missing abilities and necessary credentials.
- Prioritize soft skills. Ironically, the more technological our world becomes, the more important soft skills have become. Experts note that some of the most desired employee characteristics are those that aren’t necessarily taught in schools or training programs. According to The Nth Degree, a magazine for college-bound students, they include critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, collaboration, professionalism, strong work ethic, communication skills, and leadership.
- Increase salaries and improve benefit packages. Just as companies look at many criteria in choosing employees, those candidates have their own standards. Ping-pong tables and unlimited snacks might have seemed like good perks in decades past but now workers are seeking more personal benefits like higher pay, more vacation days, better health insurance, and flexibility in how they perform their work.
- Offer remote or hybrid work arrangements. One of those areas of flexibility is where team members work. Many tech positions are well suited to remote or hybrid work and companies should enable these opportunities. During the pandemic, many companies were forced to quickly adopt a fully remote model. Those that didn’t or require further restructuring should consider it an investment well worth making.
- Hire enough people. One of the biggest reasons workers cited for leaving their positions during the Great Resignation—in which around 50.5 million people in the U.S. quit their jobs—was burnout. Workers of all kinds were being forced to perform under highly challenging conditions, such as working long hours. To avoid such a scenario at your company, hire enough people to reasonably handle the amount of work you have. Staff augmentation can be a great way to add temporary help when needed.
- Be flexible. Job candidates may ask you for other dispensations not on this list. For example, one worker might need a special chair to be comfortable at their workstation. Another might want to work from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM so they can be available for their kids after school. Be open to such requests even if they have not been used at your company before and do your best to accommodate them if the applicant seems like a good fit.
- Do good work. Tech professionals are looking for organizations that are doing interesting, innovative things that provide opportunities for challenge and professional growth. They are also looking for companies that treat customers, vendors, and the planet well and that support employees with things like pay transparency, training, and mentoring. These considerations are especially important to younger workers.
