Warning to IT job seekers: Market remains ‘tepid,’ report says

If the first two months of 2013 are an indicator of what’s coming in the information technology job market across North Carolina, then people looking for work may find even fewer opportunities than those available right now.

Or the situation could get even worse.

So warns the latest “IT Job Trends” report from the North Carolina Technology Association that was just published early Friday.

“The first quarter of the year is an important indicator for the development of the annual job market,” the report says.

“Last year in February, the job market expanded 14.9% showing much more enthusiasm than this year.

“The current tepid growth may suggest that employers are cautious while federal budget cuts seem to be unavoidable.

“The impact of the sequester is unknown but negative speculation may weigh on employers’ minds.

“It is safer to postpone hiring and lose potential business than to hire prematurely and face a financial loss.”

Ouch.

Nationally, the situation is worse. Far worse.

“The national job market, which is an average of all states, declined 4.5% in February,” NCTA says.

Grim Numbers

A look inside the numbers compared to a year ago helps show how tough the job picture is.

Of the top five job categories, only two have more openings than a year ago:

IT architecture, up 50 at 830 openings

Hardware engineering, up 100 at 290

However, systems engineering which led openings with 920 is more than 500 below the 2012 total.

IT management fell by 150 to 630.

And software openings plunged to 550 from 920.

Specific skill set requirements also fell.

For example, virtualization jobs which reflect the red-hot “cloud computing” space dropped to 270 from 360.

Linux jobs – with global leader Red Hat based right here in Raleigh – fell by almost half to 440 from 820.

Among the top categories, only Windows Operating System jobs increased – and they did so sharply to 480 from 120.

In Perspective

The NCTA survey findings based on data gathered by talent management firm SkillProof reflects in part concerns expressed by CFOs in the Duke University/CFO Magazine report issued earlier this week: There are fears of another recession.

Firms listed 3,720 jobs on average in February, up just 160 from January, and the average that month was 190 more than in December.

But to put the February total in perspective, look at the numbers from the previous two years: