US tech jobs grow in a ‘low-hire, low-fire’ market
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The latest technology jobs data reflects a strong labor market, but gains are concentrated in a few areas and boosted by Amazon’s seasonal hires.
US tech jobs grow in a ‘low-hire, low-fire’ market
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The latest technology jobs data reflects a strong labor market, but gains are concentrated in a few areas and boosted by Amazon’s seasonal hires.
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Tech jobs grew in October, and the holiday season will provide a boost in an otherwise “low-hire, low-fire” market, data released by research firms showed.
The tech industry added 7,200 jobs, and tech jobs across all industries grew by 26,000 in October, according to CompTIA, which studied numbers released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS said the US added 165,000 jobs overall in October.
Job gains were in tech manufacturing, IT services, and software. IT unemployment was at 2.8%, lower than the national average of 4.1%.
Seasonal hiring to provide a boost
A separate study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas said seasonal jobs from Amazon — which announced plans to hire 300,000 workers — will boost hiring in the technology sector. “Amazon’s 300,000 seasonal hires account for nearly all of the 300,252 Technology hiring plans announced in October,” the research firm said.
Amazon’s seasonal jobs will largely be in warehousing and e-commerce fulfillment. The research firm considers them tech jobs, as the company is in the tech sector.
The hiring is largely short-term, seasonal work, and “companies want the flexibility to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount,” Challenger said.
Warehouse associate postings are up 13% from a year ago and have grown for three straight months as employers gear up for the seasonal rush, said Ger Doyle, regional president for North America at ManpowerGroup, a staffing and recruitment agency.
“Despite that growth, warehouse postings year-to-date are still running slightly behind 2025’s pace, pointing to a recovery in demand rather than a new high,” Doyle said.
Growth in jobs — for some
The latest numbers reflect a strong labor market, which is encouraging, Doyle said. But gains are still concentrated in areas such as engineering, manufacturing, and logistics, specifically related to data centers, semiconductors, and infrastructure, he said.
“For workers, job openings aren’t necessarily translating into hiring, and the jobs that are growing aren’t always where the people looking for work are,” Doyle said.
Even though demand is starting to improve, it still isn’t easy for people to find work or feel better off, Doyle said.
“What we’re watching now is whether this improvement turns into faster, broader hiring and wages start to regain ground against inflation,” Doyle said.
Tech job cuts in October totaled 5,576, which is the lowest of the year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Even so, the sector leads all industries with 171,501 cuts through October, up 21% from the 141,159 announced in the same period last year,” Challenger said. The technology sector accounts for 28% of job cuts in 2026, the firm said.
A hefty job reduction may be looming, with Microsoft offering voluntary exits to 60,000 employees. Challenger will record those numbers depending on the number of employees accepting the offers or Microsoft’s target.
What job listings say
Despite what research firms called a slow hiring environment, the number of new IT job listings reached 290,892 in October, up 22.2% from a year ago, according to CompTIA.
Job listings for AI skills across sectors reached 366,322 in October, growing by 6.2% from September.
According to the Indeed hiring tracker, AI appeared in 7.3% of its job listings on September 30, doubling from the same day last year.
Job postings tied to data centers are up 52% year-over-year, while semiconductor demand is up 92%, said Kye Mitchell, president of Experis North America, which is owned by ManpowerGroup.
More than half of data center operators are struggling to find qualified workers, which may include engineers, technical workers, and IT talent, Mitchell said.
But hiring may change after US voters nationwide voted to slow down data center development during the November midterm election. Data center projects could face more scrutiny around energy, infrastructure costs, and location at a time when employers are already competing for specialized talent, Mitchell said.
“If a project moves to another market, you can’t assume the workers will move with it. You can move capital, but moving an entire skilled workforce is much harder,” Mitchell said.
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