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Tech hiring continues at pace in the US, with software developers and engineers now accounting for roughly a third of all job postings.

Analysis of employment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics by CompTIA found that employer job postings for tech roles reached "a record high" in May, led by new hiring in IT services and software development.

Across all markets, job postings for tech positions totalled 623,627 in May and nearly 2.2 million year-to-date. This represents a 52% increase versus the same period of the previous year. 

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Tech sector companies added 22,800 new workers last month, while the total number of job advertisements for software developers and engineers hit 204,084. This represented an increase of more than 77,000 from April.

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Data processing, hosting and related services, computer and electronic products manufacturing and other information services, including search engines, also saw growth -although jobs in telecommunications declined.

In total, employment in the US tech industry increased by 106,700 positions during the first five months of 2022, and is 69% ahead of the same period in 2021, the analysis found.

Increases in hiring activity for IT project managers, IT support specialists, systems engineers and architects, and network engineers and architects were also reported. One-third of all postings were for positions in emerging technologies or jobs requiring emerging tech skills.

Tim Herbert, CompTIA's chief research officer, said the uptick in the number of developer jobs could be a sign that companies are being forced to up their recruiting strategies to meet the growing demand for software, which has led to fierce bidding wars amongst companies and recruiters.

CompTIA found that tech-hiring activity was strong in a number of industries, including professional, scientific and technical services, finance and insurance, manufacturing, information, retail trade, health care and social assistance, public administration, and education.

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"The mix of employers highlights the range of industry sectors and company types pursuing software development talent," said Herbert.

As usual, hiring activity was focused around major tech hubs and metro areas. New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, for example, all recorded tech job-posting totals that surpassed 31,000 positions.

Tech jobs advertised as remote positions also continue to grow in the US, which is contrary to other developed markets, where recent trends have indicated a fall in the number of remote-working roles.

CompTIA reported that a total of 106,386 tech jobs offering remote working and WFH were added in May, led by software development and engineering, web development, network engineering, and IT project management.

"The data speaks to the broad-based nature of the tech workforce," said Herbert.

"It also speaks to the many factors affecting employment and situations where sectors or companies easing up on hiring may be offset by sectors or companies increasing hiring."

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