Tech job postings in California, Texas, and Virginia tanked in July—and AI could actually be to blame

That’s according to CompTIA’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, which found the tech unemployment rate in July, 2.9%, virtually unchanged from June’s 2.8%. But those numbers belie a more complicated picture, as the tech sector reduced staffing by a net 10,314 jobs.

Steady as she goes. Still, as CompTIA Chief Research Officer Tim Herbert said in a press release, the overall strength of the tech labor market shows promise for employers and employees alike.

“In an environment where uncertainty is the norm, the latest tech employment data is a welcome mix of some reasonably positive measures, and then, of course, some lagging measures,” Herbert said.

Employment stayed even in PC, semiconductor, and components manufacturing; and increased by 400 positions in information services. Meanwhile, employment declined by 5,200 in IT and custom software services and system design; by 3,500 in cloud infrastructure, data processing, and hosting; and by 2,300 in telecommunications.

Rocky road. Job postings told another story, with heavy drops in all sectors. Job postings were down for software developers or engineers by 4,189 positions, systems engineers by 2,313; cybersecurity engineers by 2,227; network engineers and architects by 1,150; and tech support specialists by 1,126.

The top five states for overall job postings all registered losses: top dog California by 5,037; Texas by 1,319; Virginia by 1,122; New York by 1,560; and, rounding out the quintet, Florida by 588. That meant that the states seeing the highest increase in postings were largely in the double and single-digit range, other than South Carolina, which saw an increase of 432; Pennsylvania by 400; and Connecticut by 186.

It was a similar story when it came to the metros; tech job postings declined by 1,024 in Washington DC; New York by 1,715; Dallas by 573; Atlanta by 369; and Chicago by 170. The metros seeing increases were all in the double and single digits, with the exception of Columbia, South Carolina, with 360; Pittsburgh with 264; Virginia Beach, Virginia, with 191; and Philadelphia with 137.

Stay tuned. It’s tough timing. A new report from Indeed’s Hiring Lab shows that job postings still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, down 36% in July from early 2020. AI could be partly to blame, the employment analysis firm found, but nailing down exactly when and how is difficult. Reporting from CIO.com noted that there are some survey numbers that indicate employers are looking toward AI to fulfill what would have been entry-level responsibilities, restricting the job market for early-career hires.

This report was originally published by IT Brew.