[HN Gopher] 'Only 700 new IT jobs' were created in US last year
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       'Only 700 new IT jobs' were created in US last year
        
       Author : rntn
       Score  : 25 points
       Date   : 2024-01-08 19:58 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theregister.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theregister.com)
        
       | thomascgalvin wrote:
       | > Based on analysis of US Bureau of Labor Statistics data by
       | Janco, news that the IT industry added just 700 jobs following an
       | estimated 262,242 jobs lost amid mass layoffs is shocking, but
       | not surprising.
       | 
       | So it isn't that only 700 jobs were created, it's that _despite
       | the massive layoffs_ everyone is reporting on and focusing on,
       | there was actually a small net positive in job growth.
       | 
       | > Currently, there are almost 100K unfilled jobs with over 101K
       | unemployed IT Pros - a skills mismatch.
       | 
       | Staying current with skills is always part of an IT
       | professional's job. Additionally, I suspect that a lot of these
       | unfilled positions are either paying too low, or aren't real
       | jobs.
        
         | brailsafe wrote:
         | All Principal/Staff positions or laptop repair.
         | 
         | Canada's latest economic report had a net positive of only 100
         | jobs in the entirety of the labor market.
        
         | hooverd wrote:
         | How many of those 100K unfilled jobs are real?
        
           | tymscar wrote:
           | Way closer to 0 than to 100k
        
         | UncleOxidant wrote:
         | > So it isn't that only 700 jobs were created, it's that
         | despite the massive layoffs everyone is reporting on and
         | focusing on, there was actually a small net positive in job
         | growth.
         | 
         | Were it not for December hiring (which is usually pretty low in
         | most years, but was the highest for any month last year
         | according to the data) it would've been negative. That could
         | mean that things are improving in the tech job market - have to
         | see if the trend continues into January, February this year.
        
         | HumblyTossed wrote:
         | > Staying current with skills is always part of an IT
         | professional's job.
         | 
         | Gotta love capitalism. CEO sees some shiny new thing and all
         | the sudden some poor shlub's entire livelihood is fucked.
        
           | psunavy03 wrote:
           | Pour one out for the buggy whip manufacturers . . .
        
         | tootie wrote:
         | It's 700 net, but that's generally how numbers are reported.
         | When we get the national BLS numbers of "178,000 jobs created
         | in October" that number is always net. In reality, most months
         | you'll see a few million jobs created and a few million
         | terminated.
        
       | marstall wrote:
       | i think I applied for all of them
        
       | UncleOxidant wrote:
       | So if it wasn't for jobs added in December it would've been
       | negative. On the bright side, given the large number of tech jobs
       | added in December, maybe things are starting to picking up again?
       | 
       | (seems a bit odd as usually there's not much hiring going on
       | around the holidays, yet in 2023 December had the highest hiring
       | numbers according to that data)
        
       | arp242 wrote:
       | Dupe:
       | 
       |  _IT employment grew by just 700 jobs in 2023_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38912125 - Jan 2024 (210
       | comments)
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-08 23:02 UTC)