It’s time for me to eat crow, it seems. Back in July, I scoffed at the idea that IT hiring had peaked in North Carolina, as the gloomy North Carolina Technology Association attested.
It noted that advertised job postings had declined each month since March. But I pointed to the robust hiring at Red Hat in Raleigh, that Citrix was moving a divisional headquarters nearby and that LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent investment broker-dealer, will be locating an IT hub in Charlotte.
But it turns out that decline in job postings has continued through November, with just 3,550 openings posted, a 3.8 percent drop from October. That compares with 3,890 openings in November 2011 and 4,010 in November 2010, according to the association’s latest report.
Financial services and IT Services were among the sectors posting fewer openings. Only employers in the defense industry posted more.
According to the report:
While the IT job market in North Carolina is still contracting, it remains relatively strong.
In March the IT labor demand in the state peaked at almost pre-recession level and is now shrinking to a more realistic size. Without the looming fiscal cliff we would expect the need for IT workers to bottom out by December and grow again early next year. The uncertainty of the federal budget negotiations may add to the current trend. If the parties in Washington cannot find a compromise the current slow down is likely to continue and may even accelerate.
Only three categories showed increased demand from last year, notes WRAL Techwire. In only three general categories was job demand up from last year: IT management, hardware engineering and system administration. And just specific skill areas showed growth in demand: virtualization and Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert.