Tech job openings in NC soar to 23,145 – up 20% from 2017

RALEIGH – Information technology jobs are becoming increasingly available across North Carolina with openings in June climbing to more than 23,000 with demand especially strong in the Triangle, says the North Carolina Technology Association.

That total of 23,145 represents a 20 percent increase from one year ago.

Up more than 800 from May, job openings have surged by nearly 5,000 this year alone, NC TECH notes in its monthly IT Jobs Trend report.

Helping drive the growth in jobs is demand from non-high tech employers.

“Postings continue to increase in non-tech sectors, including finance, insurance, retail, and educational services, with each industry posting at least 30 percent more job opportunities compared to last year,” says Greene Resources, which compiles the data for NCTA.

“Postings also have increased across all position levels, with all of the top 10 positions [see list below] seeing an increase in activity.”

The top 10 hiring firms based on posted job openings:

Oracle
IBM
ACCENTURE
Bank Of America
Wells Fargo
Deloitte
Lowe’s
General Dynamics
XPO Logistics, Inc
Cisco

Hottest job market in the state is Durham-Chapel Hill where postings climbed 53 percent year-over-year to nearly 3,000.

In Raleigh-Cary, positions surged nearly 25 percent to more than 7,500.

Hiring is also red hot in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Asheville and Burlington with year-over-year increases topping 20 percent.

The increase in openings came as the nation’s Gross Domestic Product topped 4 percent for the second quarter. The surging economy drove down North Carolina’s unemployment rate to 4.2 percent in June, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The number of information technology jobs grew in June to more than 84,000, up more than 7 percent from last year.

Biggest needs

Reflecting growing global concerns about hacking and data security, employers want information security analysts with demand up a whopping 55 percent from June 2017.

Employers are also looking for software developers, web developers, computer systems engineers and architects, computer and information systems managers with postings climbing 29 percent or more.