Job postings for tech-focused roles in the third quarter of 2021 were up 39% year-over-year, according to the Q3 Tech Job Report from tech career marketplace Dice. Postings were flat quarter-over-quarter (Q2 to Q3), and were also flat against the third quarter of 2019, near the recent tech job posting highwater mark.
With seasonality taken into account, the data highlighted in Dice’s latest report presents a level of stabilization in the tech job market, as well as a near-complete recovery from a dip in volume forced by the pandemic.
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“We continue to be encouraged by the outlook for the tech job market, as our data for the third quarter shows both the strength of the recovery from the pandemic – postings are up almost 40% over Q3 2020 – and that the market sits close to its previous pre-COVID high,” said Art Zeile, CEO of Dice. “As organizations transition to a hybrid workplace model and make a push to transform products and solutions to reflect the new environment, the need for skilled technologists will only become more acute. We’re seeing those trends illustrated in this quarter’s report through a focus on hiring for cybersecurity, business analysts, program managers and product coordinators, among others.”
The Q3 Tech Job Report is Dice’s seventh quarterly tech job market update, based on an analysis of more than one million U.S. tech job postings. The data and analysis focus on four core areas: tech job postings by location, employer, occupation and skills. The Q3 2021 issue also includes special features (Tech Hub Highlights) focused on why Tampa, Boston and Philadelphia are particularly attractive to tech-driven employers and current and aspiring technologists today.
Top Tech Cities by Job Posting Location, Growth
The top cities by job posting volume quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) saw a level of fluctuation, although well-established tech hubs New York, Seattle, Los Angeles and Boston held their ranks between Q2 to Q3.
|
Top 10 Tech Cities by Job Posting Volume (QoQ % Change, Q2 2021 to Q3 2021) |
||
|
Q3 |
City |
% Change |
|
1 |
New York, NY |
5% |
|
2 |
Chicago, IL |
2% |
|
3 |
Atlanta, GA |
-8% |
|
4 |
Austin, TX |
2% |
|
5 |
Dallas, TX |
15% |
|
6 |
San Francisco, CA |
-10% |
|
7 |
Seattle, WA |
1% |
|
8 |
Washington, DC |
-16% |
|
9 |
Los Angeles, CA |
-5% |
|
10 |
Boston, MA |
11% |
Half of the top 50 tech hubs enjoyed either stability or growth in job postings in Q3, while the other half saw decreases in tech hiring compared to Q2. Notable cities include:
- Jacksonville, Florida, with quarter-over-quarter growth of 18%.
- Detroit, Michigan (+16% QoQ) had the second-highest growth in third quarter, attributed to a variety of industries including fintech, automotive and software.
- Six Texas cities experienced tech hiring growth in the third quarter, with the state itself experiencing a 10% increase in job postings quarter-over-quarter.
|
Top 10 Tech Cities by Job Posting Growth |
||
|
Q3 % |
City |
% Change |
|
1 |
Jacksonville, FL |
18% |
|
2 |
Detroit, MI |
16% |
|
3 |
Dallas, TX |
15% |
|
4 |
Irving, TX |
12% |
|
5 |
Jersey City, NJ |
12% |
|
6 |
Boston, MA |
11% |
|
7 |
Columbus, OH |
11% |
|
8 |
Houston, TX |
10% |
|
9 |
Philadelphia, PA |
10% |
|
10 |
San Antonio, TX |
10% |
Top Employers Continue Tech Hiring Increase in Q3
Though the tech hiring market has stabilized across many areas after the surge in Q2, most top employers increased their tech hiring in Q3. More than three-quarters of the top 50 companies (by tech job postings) boosted hiring, with only 18% decreasing their hunt for tech talent. Employers in the aerospace and defense industries, ecommerce and retail (Amazon, Target, Walmart), IT services (Infosys), health (Anthem Blue Cross) and fintech (FIS) all made the Top 10.
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Top Tech Occupations: Front and Back-end Developers, Cybersecurity Engineers
When looking at job postings by occupation, hiring has largely remained at an elevated level for many technologist roles, including network engineer, program manager and computer support specialist roles. There were, however, areas of major posting growth in Q3, including roles for back-end developers (+79% QoQ), front-end developers (+33% QoQ) and cybersecurity engineers (+31% QoQ).
|
Top 10 Tech Occupations by Job Posting Growth |
||
|
Q3 % |
Occupation |
% Change |
|
1 |
Back End Developer / Engineer |
79% |
|
2 |
Front End Developer |
33% |
|
3 |
Cyber Security Engineer |
31% |
|
4 |
Program Manager |
9% |
|
5 |
Senior Business Analyst |
9% |
|
6 |
Computer Programmer |
7% |
|
7 |
Software Product Manager |
7% |
|
8 |
.NET Developer / Engineer |
7% |
|
9 |
Business Intelligence Analyst |
6% |
|
10 |
Software Development / |
6% |
Fastest-Growing Tech Skills in Q3
Employers are looking for technologists who understand the core concepts of software development and project management, in addition to technical skills such as SQL, Java, Python and Linux. Many of the fastest-growing skills in Q3, including Docker (+31% QoQ), Azure (+12% QoQ) and Git (+10% QoQ), have an enormous impact on the web and cloud. Skills such as Tableau (+10% QoQ), Data Analysis (+7% QoQ) and Change Management (+6% QoQ) are all used by the managers who are guiding projects to completion.
|
Top 15 Tech Skills by Job Posting Growth |
||
|
Q3 % Growth |
Skill |
% Change |
|
1 |
Docker Software |
31% |
|
2 |
Microsoft Azure |
12% |
|
3 |
Git |
10% |
|
4 |
Unit Testing |
10% |
|
5 |
Tableau |
10% |
|
6 |
Data Analysis |
7% |
|
7 |
.NET |
7% |
|
8 |
Change Management |
6% |
|
9 |
Stakeholder Management |
6% |
|
10 |
Process Improvement |
6% |
|
11 |
Data Science |
6% |
|
12 |
SQL |
5% |
|
13 |
Extraction Transformation and Loading (ETL) |
5% |
|
14 |
Technical Support |
4% |
|
15 |
DevOps |
4% |
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