Since 2020, companies worldwide have been investing in remote and hybrid work setups to support their IT workforce better driven by the pandemic. Such measures vary from ensuring each employee is properly equipped with the necessary hardware to work from home to educating IT professionals and managers on the best practices for remote work, and talent retention strategies. Now more than ever, IT professionals must be aware of the fluctuating market demands regarding IT skills. In 2023, recruiters concentrated their efforts on hiring individuals highly knowledgeable in Java/JavaScript and Python, while they expected to struggle to recruit full-stack and back-end developers.
Highway to Silicon Valley
Employment in the IT sector in the United States has constantly been increasing over the past decade. After a severe decline in the IT workforce in June 2020, IT employment exceeded three million people starting April 2022 and peaked at over three million employees as of October 2022. However, a record number of tech layoffs in 2023 reversed the trend by the end of the year. Nonetheless, by 2033, U.S. tech employment is forecast to surpass 6.7 million people.Northern California is the global center of high-tech and innovation, with some of the world’s largest companies having their headquarters there, such as Apple, Amazon, Met, Google, Netflix, Tesla, Nvidia, and Twitter. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that IT professionals earn the highest salaries in 5275Silicon Valley. Jobs in IT management were paid the most, with salaries valued at around 165 thousand U.S. dollars. Additionally, for software developers and cybersecurity engineers, average wages varied between 155 and 145 thousand U.S. dollars annually.
Pushing for gender diversity in the tech sector
The tech sector has a long-standing problem concerning gender diversity and inclusion. Despite several improvements being made over the past years due to increased societal pressure, global organizations still found hiring women for IT-related jobs to be more challenging than hiring minorities or veterans. The share of female leaders in tech companies worldwide stood at 14 percent in 2023. In the same year, software developer gender distribution worldwide consisted of approximately 76 percent men and 23 percent women.Tech layoffs disrupting employment in the IT industry
In the face of mounting economic uncertainty, 2023 saw a significant surge in layoffs within the technology sector. By the end of December 2023, tech companies had witnessed over 262,000 employees being let go across more than 1,180 companies globally. The United States bore the brunt of these layoffs, accounting for over two-thirds of the total. There, both established corporations and emerging startups struggled to sustain their profit margins amidst a backdrop of high inflation, increasing interest rates, decelerating economic growth, geopolitical unrest, and disruptions in the supply chain.Looking ahead, employment in the IT industry is poised for continued growth and evolution. However, the challenges of skill shortages, gender diversity, and economic uncertainties remain, with layoffs in the tech industry certain to continue in 2024.
