Technology jobs have shown resiliency during uncertain economic times, especially since digital operations are necessary for business survival and also the best option for building innovative new processes. CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce 2024 report provides a look at the past trajectory of IT jobs, giving us a starting point for what might happen in the future.
10 years of IT job growth
One new part of the report is a review of the previous decade. From 2010 to 2019, 2.3 million jobs were added across all tech occupations. This covers all jobs within the technology industry (including jobs such as sales or HR at tech firms) as well as all IT professions across every industry.
The second part of that equation—the high-tech roles within every company—accounted for 80% of the job gains. This reflects the growing importance of technology for businesses of all types.
A few different areas stand out when looking at the specific occupations that grew over the past decade. As far as raw growth, software development was the big winner, adding 504,000 jobs. Companies have been moving away from packaged software and toward their own development as they aim for greater customization and automation.
After software, the largest raw growth came in IT support, which added 265,000 jobs. This traditional starting point for IT careers is still in high demand, and the CompTIA A+ certification is a proven tool for building the skills needed for this role.
In terms of percentage growth, cybersecurity analysts saw tremendous growth of 134%. At the beginning of the decade, dedicated cybersecurity specialists were usually only found in the largest organizations.
However, as cybersecurity has become more critical for digital business operations, more organizations are investing in specific skills that protect their data and that of their customers. In response to this shift, CompTIA has built a comprehensive set of cybersecurity certifications to address new skills like threat intelligence and penetration testing.
The future of IT jobs
Predicting the future is always a tricky proposition. In this environment, it’s nearly impossible. The high degree of uncertainty leads to inaccurate models, and the situation is changing so rapidly that it’s hard to gather stable data. However, some guesses can still be made based on the general trends from yesterday and the critical needs of tomorrow.
The Tech Jobs report, from the tech career hub Dice, examined job posting data to get a very early take on how employers were shifting their hiring priorities. As expected, the overall picture is a mixed bag, but there are still signs of resiliency for tech jobs compared to other careers.
Looking specifically at skills, the Dice report states that “[e]mployers are very interested in skills that contribute to the maintenance and shifting of a company’s technology infrastructure.” These activities are related to the dual components of modern IT: tactics and strategy. CompTIA’s research on Using Strategic IT for Competitive Advantage described these two components, and they act as the bridge between the past and the future of IT.
Although the migration to cloud computing and the focus on emerging technology has drawn attention away from traditional infrastructure roles, they are still the bedrock for digital transformation.
Even at the most basic level, technology maintenance remains at the top of most businesses' minds. The possibility of bringing your own device (BYOD) and the increasing tech savvy of business-level employees have led some to wonder if the role of tech support or help desks will fade. In reality, the growing corporate appetite for technology has created even more demand for IT pros who are well-versed in all facets of technology, from infrastructure to cybersecurity.
With businesses relying on digital tools for current operations and accelerating digital transformation for future strategy, IT infrastructure skills will continue to be a top priority.
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