CompTIA Finds Uncertainty and Caution in New Jobs Data

The unevenness that has characterized the technology employment market for several months continued in March, according to analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by CompTIA.

The suburban Chicago-based industry association reports that tech industry employment decreased by estimated 15,000 jobs last month. The largest share of staffing reductions were in the IT and custom software services and systems design occupation category, which lost 13,200 jobs, after adding 7,100 jobs in February.

Tech occupation employment, which includes technology professionals working in all industry sectors, decreased by 118,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate for tech occupations edged up to 3.9%.

At the same time employers reduced tech staffing, they increased the volume of tech occupation job postings for the third consecutive month to begin 2026. There were more than 537,000 job postings for tech positions in March, including 254,000 new postings added during the month. Last month’s job postings total was 9.7% more than February 2026 and 8.9% higher than the March 2025 figure.

Several industry sectors recorded double-digit percentage increases in tech job postings last month, including real estate (+ 56.2%), retail trade (+ 27.1%), finance and insurance (+ 19%) and manufacturing (+ 15.7%).

Tech job postings were widely dispersed geographically. New York City, Washington and Dallas had the highest volumes, while San Francisco, Chicago and Washington saw the biggest increases in postings from February to March.

As AI skills continue to be a focus area across a wide range of job roles, employers are searching for a mix of technology positions to support AI adoption and ongoing digital transformation.

CompTIA’s analysis reveals that 17% of March job postings targeted workers with eight years or more experience; 27% specified workers with four to seven years’ experience; and 20%, zero to three years.

Channel Impact^®
Partners should note that when unemployment rises, companies often continue to post jobs for several key reasons, including the need for specialized help, the desire to maintain a “warm bench” of potential candidates, the desire to signal to investors the likelihood of continued growth, or the need to publicly post roles due to internal policy or regulations, even if they plan to hire internally.