According to CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the tech industry and workforce, hiring in the business technology sector took a step back in July, reflecting a national slowdown in job growth.
The tech industry shed an estimated 9,162 jobs last month, based on CompTIA’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
While the tech services and software development sectors added around 4,000 workers, telecommunications, cloud infrastructure, and related sub-sector losses offset these gains.
The total U.S. tech industry workforce now stands at approximately 5.6 million workers.
Across the broader economy, tech occupations saw a decline of 14,000 positions. However, the unemployment rate for tech jobs edged down to 3.2% in July, compared to the national unemployment rate, which rose to 4.3%.
“Although disappointing, the slowdown in hiring aligns with expectations,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer. “Employers are weighing various factors in short-term tech hiring while considering longer-term growth strategies.”
Employer job postings for tech positions totaled more than 471,000 in July, with 176,324 new postings added.
The highest demand was for software developers and engineers, IT project managers, data analysts, scientists, and tech support specialists, although totals were down across all categories for the month.
The data highlights a continued emphasis on skills-based hiring. Notably, 46% of active tech job postings did not require a four-year degree.
Key occupations with even higher percentages included network support specialists (87%), IT support specialists (72%), network and systems administrators (52%), and database administrators (50%).
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