RESEARCH TRIANGLE –The number of information technology job openings in North Carolina fell from June’s, but still exceeded July 2017 numbers, according to the monthly Tech Talent Trends Alert from the NC Technology Association (NC TECH).

Brooks Raiford, CEO of NC Tech said in a statement that “Although July IT openings dipped from the previous month, there were more openings than the same month a year ago. Additionally, there were several newcomers to the Top Ten Hirers of Tech Talent list: Verizon, Covance, and XPO Logistics.”

NC has 21,804 job openings, about 1,300 fewer than in June, but up 16.7 percent from July 2017, topping the percentage of national gains. In the U.S., there were 782,851 IT job openings in July, up 15.7 percent.

In NC, transportation, warehousing, retail and education services saw at least 34 percent growth compared to last year. Postings increased across all positions and skill sets, according to the report.

NC Tech chart.

  • Software developers led the top ten occupations with 3,948 openings, up 33.5 percent from 2017.
  • Information security analysts, with 1,349 jobs available, had a 31.6 percent boost over 2017.
  • Computer systems engineers and architects with 1,512 openings, saw a 30.7 percent increase over 2017.
  • Computer and information systems managers had a 26.2 percent rise over last year, and software quality assurance engineers and testers saw a 24.8 percent gain.

The top ten hirers were: Oracle, IBM, Bank of America, Accenture, Wells Fargo, Deloitte, Cisco, Verizon, Covance and XPO Logistics.

The top ten hard skills certifications sought were: Java, which topped the list with 4,228 openings, while Software development, structured query language, and Linux, had more than 3,000 openings each. JavaScript, Systems development life cycle, Python, Microsoft Office, quality assurance, and application development all posted more than 2,000 openings.

The Metro areas with the highest number of openings were Charlotte/Concord/Gastonia, Raleigh, Durham/Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, Greensboro/Highpoint, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Ashville, Hickory/Lenoir/Morganton, and Greenville, in that order. IT job openings ranged from more than 7,000 in the Charlotte and Raleigh Metros and nearly 3,000 in Durham/Chapel Hill to 115 in Greenville.

Two emerging technologies missed the top ten list, but saw significant growth over last month’s. Machine Learning Techniques soared more than 85 percent, and the Internet of Things (IoT) rose more than 66 percent.

The report notes that research firm Garner predicts that by 2020 the global IoT market will increase from $157 billion to $457 billion due to investment from manufacturing, logistics and transportation, resulting in more than 65 percent of enterprises using IoT products.