A new report from Dice shows Q1 2021 saw a 28 percent increase in technology job postings, compared with quarter 4 of 2020. This shows that this part of the U.S. economy is starting to recover in the context of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the technology professional unemployment rate sits at a relatively low of 2.4 percent which compares favourably with the 6 percent national U.S. unemployment rate. This helps to swing the labour market more towards the employee, although not to the extent it is yet an “employee’s market for tech jobs”.
One of the drivers for this is connected to the pandemic migration trends and the greater acceptance of remote work.
In terms of those seeking a career in the technology field, the report finds that so-called emerging technology destinations located within Jacksonville, FL; Houston, TX; Saint Louis, MO; Columbus, OH and Northern VA, are becoming increasingly popular.
Happening places need to be focused on important developments in the technology space. With energy consumption increasing, electric cars, LEDs, smart grids, smart cities, dark silicon, new battery technology, and new ways of cooling data centers, represent some areas where some of the more interesting technology projects are focused. Wired is already predicting the top tech trends for 2022.
As well as conventional developments, these locales are also home to some of the strangest jobs in tech, ranging from building robots to planning space shuttle routes and analyzing national security data. For example, job adverts indicate roles based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center creating technology to collect, process and analyze data from debriefs with astronauts as they return from space as well as Geospatial Analysts, who create, analyze, and interpret spatial data to support U.S. military and policymaker decisions, having a direct impact on global affairs.
Other roles are aimed at industrial automation, enabling manufacturers of all sizes access to the productivity benefit of robotic arms without extensive knowledge of coding.
Also in demand are data scientists, who carry out the interpretation of masses of volumes of data. For example, one data scientist has been recruited to capturing insights about the impact of COVID-19 on Wuhan’s economic activity after lockdown.
Another data scientist role is engaged with assessing where illegal poachers might be operating in Garamba National Park in the DRC and a similar activity involves gathering evidence of illegal fishing from Chinese vessels surrounding the Galapagos Islands.
Other data scientist applications include amassing intel on Iran seeking to evade U.S. crude oil sanctions.
More mainstream data science roles spend their time examining markets and technologies to develop, design, execute and test analytics strategies and campaigns. Central to these activities are the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
