Tech unemployment grew in August as job postings increased

Unemployment among IT professionals reached 3.4% in August, up from 3.2% in July, according to a CompTIA review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published Sept. 6. The U.S. unemployment rate fell slightly in August, from 4.3 to 4.2%. 

Tech occupations employment dropped 28,000 positions, marking the third consecutive month of declines.  

Despite the contraction, tech job postings grew to exceed 500,000 active open roles in August, with over 211,000 new postings added during the month. Postings for software developers, engineers and data scientists led the growth. 

Layoffs in the tech sector also spiked in August to 26,000, according to the self-reported layoff tracking site Layoffs.fyi. Cost-cutting and headcount rightsizing after large hiring efforts were two key drivers for staffing cuts, CFO Dive reported. 

In addition to cooler economic trends, the interest in AI adoption is pushing executives to recalibrate staffing strategies.  

AI is driving much of the hiring efforts in enterprise settings, as CIOs and other executives seek to fill specialized positions to support new initiatives. The share of job postings related to AI grew to 14.3% in June, up from 8.8% in late 2019, a CBRE review of Lightcast data found. 

Tech hiring for AI specialists is set to grow this year and into 2025 as adoption continues, according to the report.