While the wider economy is slowing, computer science majors in the Class of 2023 are still in demand across many fields.
Summary
Even with a cooler job market, employers still plan to hire more Class of 2023 grads than they hired from Class of 2022. That makes the Class of 2023 job market look stronger than many students may expect. Computer science majors remain in demand, even as some tech firms cut back.
NACE's Job Outlook 2023 Spring Update survey says employers plan to hire 3.9% more graduates from the Class of 2023 than from the Class of 2022. That is down from the 14.7% gain they expected in the fall.
More than one-third of employers plan to hire more people. More than half plan to keep hiring steady. About 12% expect to cut college hiring.
Hiring also varies by industry. The information industry planned to hire almost 87% more new grads a year ago. Now it expects a drop of almost 17%. Computer and electronics makers also saw their forecast fall from more than 41% to 19.1%.
NACE says the market is still promising for graduates. It also points to strong demand for computer science graduates in many industries. In its Winter 2023 Salary Survey, two-thirds of employers across industries said they plan to hire computer science majors from the current class.
Daniel Voloch of Girls Who Code said layoffs at tech firms should not push students away from tech careers. He said tech work can happen in health care, art, government and other fields.
Overall for Tech Jobs, a Mixed Bag
Tech companies added 18,795 jobs in April, the biggest monthly gain since August 2022, according to CompTIA's review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Growth came from tech infrastructure, manufacturing and services.
At the same time, tech jobs across the wider economy fell by 99,000. The tech unemployment rate in 2023 rose to 2.3%, still below the national rate of 3.4%.
CompTIA said the month showed the same mixed signs seen often before. Tech hiring was strong in one part of the market and weak in another.
Employers posted more than 300,000 tech jobs in April, so demand for tech talent stayed strong.
Roles employers kept hiring for include:
- IT services and custom software development (+12,700)
- Cloud infrastructure, data processing and hosting (+7,300)
- PC, chip, and parts production (+3,200)
Tech job posts were spread out by area and industry. Administrative and support, finance and insurance, and manufacturing were the most active fields, with 32,861, 32,820 and 31,959 postings. Among metro areas, Washington, New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago had the most job posts. Dallas, Houston, Philly, Boston and Seattle had the biggest month-to-month gains in tech job postings.
Q&A
Question: Is the Class of 2023 entering a strong job market or a weak one?
Answer: It is mixed, but still promising. Hiring plans have cooled from earlier hopes, but employers still plan to hire 3.9% more Class of 2023 grads than Class of 2022 grads.
Question: Are computer science majors still in demand despite tech layoffs?
Answer: Yes. The article says computer science majors are still wanted in many fields, not just at big tech firms. NACE said two-thirds of employers across industries plan to hire computer science majors from this class.
Question: Why can tech graduates find work outside tech firms?
Answer: Tech skills fit many fields, like health care, art, government, finance, insurance, manufacturing and admin support. That gives graduates more places to use their training.
Question: What does the phrase mixed labor market signals mean for tech jobs?
Answer: It means the data point in different directions. Tech companies added jobs, but tech roles across the wider economy fell. Tech unemployment stayed low, and employers still posted more than 300,000 tech jobs.
Question: Which tech roles and locations saw strong hiring?
Answer: Employers kept hiring for IT services and custom software development, cloud infrastructure and data hosting, and PC, chip and parts production. The busiest metro areas were Washington, New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Dallas, Houston, Philly, Boston and Seattle had the biggest gains.
