High-tech job openings in NC plunge in July to lowest number in a year

RALEIGH – Tech hiring in July plunged across North Carolina in July with the number of advertised openings falling to the lowest total since July of 2021 as the economy was rallying from the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report says.

A total of 45,862 jobs were listed last month, the N.C. Technology Association reports in its monthly IT jobs report.

That’s a drop of more than 8,000 from June and nearly 14,000 under the record high of openings in May which neared 59,000.

“While July IT job postings in North Carolina dropped back to early 2022 levels, they were still up 9% over July 2021,” said Andrea Fleming, Director of Talent + Workforce Development at NC TECH, about the report. “The typical summer dip in hiring, and insights from a recent NC TECH Leadership Poll, make the number less surprising, but we will be watching carefully to see whether the downward trend continues in coming months or bounces back.”

That quarterly survey of tech leaders cited by Fleming found that North Carolina leaders are feeling more pessimistic about the tech sector than they were a quarter ago—and 19% of respondents reported that they have frozen hiring or pursued layoffs, furloughs, or pay reductions for workers.

That’s a significant change, as just 5.7% of companies that had frozen hiring as of the poll results released in April 2022. Now, the latest data shows that 17.5% of firms have frozen hiring and an additional 1.6% of firms have implemented or are currently considering layoffs, furloughs, or pay reductions.

Year-over-year declines in openings were reported in Durham-Chapel Hill (down 20%) as well as Wilmington, Burlington and Asheville.

However openings were up nearly 4,000 with Raleigh showing a big jump of 21% to more than 15,000.

NC jobs market remains strong

Overall, however, North Carolina’s jobs market remains strong. The state’s unemployment rate remains low at 3.4% despite growing concerns about a possible recession and some layoffs being reported across the state, according to July jobless data released on Friday.

Veteran economist Dr. Mike Walden, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus, praised the N.C. economy.

“Similar to the national report, North Carolina’a labor market shows no signs of slowing down,” he told WRAL TechWire. “Both employment surveys – of households and of firms – showed employment and non-farm jobs increasing in July from their levels in June.

” The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.4%, and the labor force participation rate edged up from 60.5% in June to 60.6% in July. However, the labor force participation rate still remains below its pre-pandemic level. Government, professional/business services, leisure/hospitality, and education/health care where the leaders in hiring, while information (tech), finance, and personal services had very modest gains.”