Study: Tech Industry Less Impacted by Covid-19 than Most Other Industries

DHI Group, Inc., parent company of the employment resource website, “Dice,” has released a report suggesting that the tech industry has fared better than most other industries amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

First quarter tech job postings saw significant increases when compared to Q1 of 2019, with both established and emerging tech hubs growing due to the tech industry being more insulated from the effects of COVID-19 than other industries such as retail, food, hospitality and tourism. In early April 2020, job posting data appears to be softening, but not to a magnitude that is out of the trailing twelve-month average range. Only four of the top tech hubs (Boston, MA: -6%; Columbus, OH: -5%; Atlanta, GA: -4%; New York, NY: -1%) saw a reduction in jobs posted in March 2020 compared to February 2020. The majority of tech hubs showed month-over-month increases from February through March, including Raleigh, NC: +28%, San Diego, CA: +23%, and Arlington, VA: +20%.

However, the pandemic is affecting many of tech’s top occupations. Software developers (-8%) and network engineers (-3%) roles both saw a decline in postings from February to March 2020, likely due to employers deprioritizing new development projects and shifting focus to stability and adoption of work-from-home status. Occupations like cybersecurity engineer (+20%), systems engineer (+11%) and systems administrator (+7%) have all increased significantly in the last two months, as employers focus on scaling infrastructure, ensuring security for remote employees and maintaining core platforms.

Channel Impact^®
While job postings in certain locations have softened in recent weeks, businesses are still looking for talented technologists who can maintain IT capabilities throughout the remote work environment.