Whether you’re just getting started in your tech career or interested in finding a new role, you can feel confident as you plan your next step and build your career pathway by getting helpful insights into the latest trends in tech employment with the CompTIA Tech Jobs Report. Each month, our research team puts together a comprehensive overview of the current tech job market and opportunities across industry, location, role, and experience level.
The demand for specialized tech skills keeps growing
While overall tech employment was flat (only a 0.4% decrease in August compared to July), our latest Tech Jobs Report shows that employers are increasingly focused on specialized skills in job postings, with strong demand for roles like tech support specialists, data analysts, IT project managers and network analysts. Software developers, software engineers and data scientist roles continue to lead the way and had the largest spike in demand from employers last month.
If you’re looking to take your tech career to the next level, building more advanced tech skills can help you stand out in the current job market. Below you'll find more key insights based on tech employment data through August 2024.
With a solid demand for tech professionals with specialized skills, now is the perfect time to consider a tech certification that can open more doors and help you build the tech career you want.
For Software Development roles, CompTIA Tech+ is a great place to start. You’ll build a solid foundation in tech fundamentals, learn basic tech skills and knowledge, and be ready for a higher level of certification that can launch your career in software development.
If you like solving problems or building computers, a career as a network support specialist might be an ideal fit for you. CompTIA Network+ gives you the technical and hands-on skills required of today’s early-career network administrators.
If you already have tech experience and are looking to move into a data-related role, you can explore a range of CompTIA offerings that will help take you to the next level. CompTIA Data+ is designed for new-to-the-field data science learners, while CompTIA DataX takes seasoned data professionals from pro to expert. If you have your CompTIA Data+ certification and are looking to get in a data administrator role, a CompTIA DataSys+ certification will prove your ability to build, support, and secure growing data systems.
If you’re more interested in the cybersecurity side of tech, CompTIA Secuity+ can help you build the foundational cybersecurity skills and knowledge you need to advance in your career path. According to Cyberseek, there were only 85 cybersecurity workers available for every 100 cybersecurity jobs demanded by employers from May 2023 through April 2024.
Find your perfect fit with job opportunities across all levels
Our latest report also shows a bright outlook for advancing your career in tech without a four-year degree. A growing percentage of tech job postings in August didn’t require a four-year degree, including 86% of Network Support Specialists postings and 72% of IT Support Specialists postings.
Employers are also looking for a range of experience from candidates. The data on job postings by years of experience shows that 29% of postings required 0 to 3 years of experience, 34% required 4 to 7 years, 34% required 8 years or more, and 15% of postings didn’t specify a level of experience.
The top metropolitan areas for tech job postings in August included Washington, D.C., New York, and Dallas with states like California, Texas, and Virginia also seeing a high volume of job postings. If you thrive when working from home and are looking for remote tech opportunities, software development, IT project management, and data-related roles were among the top remote job postings in August.
