How COVID-19 is impacting jobs in the tech industry
A new report from Indeed shows fewer jobs -- and rising competition for them.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Working from home is driving more interest in tech jobs.
COVID-19 has caused widespread economic damage to the tech sector, Indeed said in a report released Thursday. There are fewer tech job postings due to the coronavirus pandemic, while more people have been searching in the field, according to the job search website.
Indeed, which looked through 564 tech-related job titles for the report, found data science was the hardest hit, with up to 51% fewer jobs advertised compared to a year ago for this role. Next was IT management, security and quality assurance, software development, system engineering, and IT operations and help desk.
In what Indeed called the eight "tech hubs" of the US -- San Francisco and the East Bay, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Raleigh and Washington DC -- tech job postings were down by at least 20% as of July 24. The worst hit was in Raleigh, which is down by 45%, but Seattle was down 41% and even San Francisco was down 38% compared to job listings a year ago.
Workers searching for jobs also became far more interested in tech roles with the option to work from home after Twitter and Facebook announced their permanent remote-working policies, the report found.
"Some of the interest may also be because it is no longer necessary for new hires to live in the hyper-expensive San Francisco Bay Area," Indeed said. "Case in point: rent in the Bay area is falling, probably because tech workers are leaving and the influx of new tech workers has shriveled."