Whether you’re just getting started in your tech career or interested in finding a new role, you can feel confident as you plan your next step and build your career pathway by getting helpful insights into the latest job search trends with the CompTIA Tech Jobs Report. Each month, our research team puts together a comprehensive overview of the current tech job market and opportunities across industry, location, role, and experience level.  

Amid an election season and the aftermath of consecutive national disasters across the nation, the job market in the tech industry remains flat. There is a positive outlook, however. There has been steady growth for specific roles in the tech sector.  
 
Gains in job postings related to cloud infrastructure and software development were not quite enough to impact the decline in the tech sector overall. Nationwide, there were 528,402 active employer job postings for tech positions in October. Among them were nearly 223,000 new job listings. [1] 
 
Job postings for Database Architects roles saw a 10% increase from the month prior. Postings for tech roles in networking and computer system administration also saw a 6% increase. This steady growth speaks to the overall long-term growth expected of the industry, especially in cloud computing and data, over the coming years.  

Additionally, the highest volume of job postings was for positions in software development and engineering; IT project management, data analysis, emerging tech and related occupations; data science; and tech support specialists. 

Tech job market opportunities remain flat amid regional impacts  

As indicated in the analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report data, in October, the tech unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.6%. The national unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 4.1%. Naturally, this rate reflects the larger tech job market which stayed flat both in October and the months prior.  

The BLS does recognize the impact natural disasters in regional markets may have had on the overall tech industry. The recent string of hurricanes over the past month affected over 113,000 tech businesses in Southeastern states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. As a result, tech businesses in these regions may have experienced a pause in hiring. [2] 

Metropolitan areas in unaffected regions continued to see an increase in job postings. Cities including Washington D.C. (16,150), New York (13,386), and Dallas (10,011) had the highest number of tech job postings as compared to other metropolitan cities.

Find your perfect fit with job opportunities across all levels 

Our latest tech jobs report shows a bright outlook for advancing your career in tech without a four-year degree. A growing percentage of job postings in October did not require a four-year degree, including 86% of Network Support Specialist postings and 71% of IT Support Specialist postings.  

Employers are also looking for a range of experience from candidates. Data on job search trends by years of experience shows that 21% of postings required 0 to 3 years of experience, 29% required 4 to 7 years, 15% required 8 years or more, and 45% of postings didn’t specify a level of experience.  

The top metropolitan areas for remote job postings in October included Washington D.C., New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta. If you thrive while working from home and are looking for remote tech opportunities, software development, IT project management, and data-related roles were among the top remote job postings in October.  

Stay up to date on all the latest tech hiring trends so you can plan the next step in your career.  

To read the full October Tech Jobs Report, visit here.   

[1] Active job postings include open postings carried over from previous months and new postings added by employers. 

[2] State of the Tech Workforce 2024. CompTIA, March 2024