RALEIGH – Employers seeking to fill information technology-related jobs are looking to hire nearly 30,000 people – a 40 percent jump from a year ago and a new high as reported by the NC Technology Association.

Demand in terms of growth from 2018 is highest in Durham-Chapel Hill with a 69 percent increase.

Openings are also up more than 46 percent in Raleigh and more than 40 percent in Charlotte.

The new report out Tuesday finds 28,634 advertised positions as of February. That’s the highest since 27,988 last October and is nearly 1,000 more than in January.

Statewide unemployment at 3.8 percent in January adds further pressure on companies looking to hire.

Nationally, there are nearly 1 million open IT jobs, an increase of 25 percent from a year ago.

Demand for software developers skyrockets 73% across NC from year ago

Interestingly, many of the positions are with companies not focused on high tech.

“February’s open IT jobs were up from the previous month, and up sharply from February 2018,” said Brooks Raiford, CEO of the tech trade association.  “And for the first time over the past year, a majority of the hirers of tech talent are non-tech companies, demonstrating the integral role of technology in all business types.”

The top 10 hiring companies are:

  • Oracle
  • IBM
  • Wells Fargo
  • Cisco
  • Bank Of America
  • Deloitte
  • Verizon
  • Lowe’s
  • Perspecta
  • Covance

Demand for talent also is spread across the state with the Charlotte metro tops at more than 10,000 followed by Raleigh then Durham-Chapel Hill.

The breakdown:

Metro area, open jobs, difference from 2018:

  • Charlotte/Concord/Gastonia – 10,403 (+42.4%)
  • Raleigh 9,340 +45.8%
  • Durham/Chapel Hill – 4,331 (+69.2%)
  • Greensboro-High Point – 1.038 (+38.0%)
  • Fayetteville – 864 (+2.1%)
  • Winston-Salem – 447 (-0.9%)
  • Wilmington – 236 (+26.2%)
  • Burlington – 179 (+12.6%)
  • Asheville – 142 (-28.3%)
  • Greenville – 130 (+31.3%)

TOTALS (Including All Others) – 28,634 (+40.2%)

For more data, read the full report online.

NC TECH publishes the report monthly.