Triangle tech openings plummeted 30% last month, data shows. Here’s who’s hiring.
Those searching for work in the Triangle technology sector have options, a new report from a leading industry group shows, but those choices have dwindled significantly over the past few months.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina Technology Association provided The News & Observer with its latest snapshot of the local IT employment market. Months of job cuts and hiring freezes appeared to have made a dent, as the area saw job postings fall by 4,000 positions from January to February.
Last month, there were 8,247 IT job openings in the Triangle, around half as many as the NC Tech Association recorded in May.
As interest rates climb and companies return to more in-person services, employers have stepped back from their post-pandemic tech hiring sprees.
“Right now, businesses are just being a little bit more cautious,” said Denise Pavona, owner of the staffing firm Spherion Raleigh.
In the Triangle, large corporations and smaller startups have both reduced staff in recent months, from Google, Lenovo, and Cisco to Medicago, a Durham biotech firm which last month informed the state it will close a local facility later this year, affecting 164 workers. Other companies say they are pausing hiring until the economic climate, which now includes a tumultuous banking system, settles down.
Last month, NC Tech found North Carolina had its lowest number of IT job postings since at least January 2019 when the nonprofit adjusted its data aggregation procedures.
But while Triangle opportunities are fewer, Pavona believes “there are still plenty of (tech) jobs out there for people who want them.”
According to NC Tech, the most sought-after job titles in the Triangle are software engineer, project manager and technical lead. The group compiled a list of the 10 companies hiring the most tech talent in the Raleigh and Durham area, and financial firms claimed many of the top spots. Fidelity Investments ranked first, with Deloitte, HCL Technologies, MetLife and Wells Fargo rounding out the top five.
“The top tech hirers lists for both North Carolina and Raleigh-Durham are dominated by non-tech companies for February,” said Andrea Fleming, NC Tech’s director of talent and workforce development. “This has been a recent trend as many tech companies are adjusting for significant hires during the pandemic, and evaluating economic uncertainty.”
Last month, Fidelity told The N&O it planned to hire 620 people over the first half of 2023, most based at its Research Triangle Park campus in Durham.
The top 10 also includes major accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, staffing agencies RedSalsa and ARK Solutions, and Epic Games, the Cary-based creator of Fortnite.
An Epic Games spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s local hiring plans. The company is guarded about its Triangle-area headcount, though Epic says more than 1,000 people report to its Cary offices.
Here are the top 10 tech hiring firms in the Triangle as of February:
Fidelity Investments
Deloitte
HCL Technologies
MetLife
Wells Fargo
RedSalsa
Epic Games
KPMG
ARK Solutions
PricewaterhouseCoopers
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
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