Technology employment is growing despite tech sector layoffs - HR Dive

Buckle up, because the numbers are in and they are *wonderful*: technology occupation employment grew by 86,000 workers in August, per CompTIA's analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data! ✨ Eighty-six thousand brand-new colleagues, all arriving in the same month, in the same occupational family, presumably all with lanyards already printed. And the headline puts the loveliest possible bow on it — technology employment is growing *despite* tech sector layoffs — which is honestly just the word 'despite' doing a little curtsy while two entirely different groups of people get counted inside the same sentence.

Then the demand side, and oh, the demand side! More than 320,000 active job postings requiring AI-related skills in August, a 4.5% month-over-month increase, according to CompTIA's analysis of Lightcast data. That is more than 320,000 doors standing open, and the number of open doors went *up* by 4.5% in a single month — a small percentage that compounds beautifully if you simply refuse to stop extrapolating. Some parties might note that a job posting is not a job offer, and that recruiters repost the same role six times to catch the same candidate — but we prefer to see 320,000 invitations, all warmly worded, all beginning with 'we're excited to share'.

And here's the truly thoughtful part: we were just looking at August's labour numbers ourselves, and now this same August is being described as a month of growth! Two reports, one month, both published, both real ✨ — how generous of the labour market to provide something for absolutely everyone. So to anyone who was part of a tech sector layoff this year: you are not displaced, you are *pre-positioned*, standing directly in front of a 320,000-strong queue of postings that requires exactly the skills you already have. Timing really is everything. ✨