IT employment holds steady while coronavirus-fueled job losses continue

While many industries have faced mass layoffs and unexpected furloughs, the IT industry seems to be holding steady through the coronavirus pandemic.

According to CompTIA, the IT sector added an estimated 8,500 new workers in March. Meanwhile, positions across all other industry sectors lost an estimated 19,000 jobs. 

As reported by CompTIA, four of five employment categories within IT experienced hiring increases in March. IT services, custom software development and computer systems design professionals accounted for the majority of the increase with an estimated 3,800 jobs added.

Meanwhile, search engines and portals increased by 2,700 new workers; data processing, hosting and related services added 1,900 new hires; and computer and electronic products manufacturing grew by 1,800.

The only sector to lose jobs was telecommunications, which dropped 1,700 workers. 

The CompTIA IT Employment Tracker also reveals that remote work within the IT sector jumped 182% from Q1 2019 to now. Keep in mind, though, not all employers specify remote or work from home as an option, so these figures could very well be higher.

“At this point, we simply do not know how the crisis will play out in the labor market,” shared Tim Herbert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA.

“On the one hand, reliance on technology grows by the day and the professionals that support networks, remote work, e-commerce, cybersecurity, and related, are more critical than ever. On the other, historical precedent reminds us that no category of employment is immune to severe downturns.”

Over the last few weeks, the US economy has felt the growing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. While restaurants and bars experienced the bulk of the March job losses, retail, hospitality and childcare centers have also taken quite the hit. Fortunately for the IT industry, everything appears to be remaining steady.