High-tech job openings surge to record high in NC: More than 50,000

By WRAL Staff

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    RALEIGH (WRAL) — Demand for information technology talent surged to another record high in April, this time surging past 50,000 for the first time. And leading the way is openings in the Research Triangle region.

So says the newest monthly IT Jobs Trends report from the NC Technology Association (NC TECH) released Monday.

Openings jumped by more than 4,000 from the previous record set in March – and 60% higher (some 20,000) more year-over-year. But North Carolina is far from the only state where tech job demand remains very strong. Nationally, there are more than 1 million open tech jobs, an increase of 71% from last year, the report notes.

In fact, demand has risen for seven consecutive months despite economic challenges ranging from COVID to inflation and supply chain.

And demand isn’t slowing, either as most tech firms (90-plus percent) in a recent NC TECH survey said they continue to plan to hire.

“Once again, IT job openings continue the trend of record setting numbers; although August through October of 2021 were fairly flat, job openings have been on an upward trajectory ever since,” says Andrea Fleming, Director of Talent + Workforce for NC TECH, a busy advocacy group based in Raleigh.

And Fleming noted demand was especially keen in the Triangler.

“With almost 18,000 tech openings, the Raleigh MSA has now surpassed the Charlotte/Concord/Gastonia MSA as the top region in the state for the first time,” she said in a statement.

In Raleigh, job openings are up 64% year-over-year while Durham-Chapel Hill postings surged some 32 percent.

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