The Growing Demand for Tech Skills in Non-Tech Industries

Burning Glass and Oracle Academy recently released a research report entitled “Beyond Tech: The Rising Demand for IT Skills in Non-Tech Industries”.  The research evaluated nearly 7 million online tech job openings in 2018 (accounting for 24% of all online job openings) and created a landscape of the demand for IT jobs and skills across the economy over a five year look back period. While I often share similar findings anecdotally, it's nice to be able to put forth some cold hard facts to emphasize the points.

Not everyone working in a tech job is employed at a tech giant like Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft, or Oracle.

FACTS: 90% of tech jobs are in 10 non-tech industries, leaving only 10% in the tech sector.

The explosive growth of tech jobs in other industries like advanced manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare is changing the face of the tech labor market needs.

FACTS: From 2013-2018, the growth of tech jobs in the tech sector was 40% while outside of tech that growth rate jumped to 65%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports average job growth as 5-7%.

This research quantifies the demand for tech workers inside and outside of the tech sector, helps to demystify the tech opportunities across a vast number of industries, and asserts that those without tech skills will likely find themselves increasingly disadvantaged as these workplace trends progress.

Couragion is in staunch alignment with the goal of helping educators, students and advocates understand how STEM and tech skills are transforming the workforce. To that end, our career literacy programming is deeply embedded in our teacher professional learning and educator preparation programs, as well as our student-facing curriculum that prepares individuals to be ‘future ready’.

With Computer Science Education Week (@CSEdWeek) being just over a month away, how can you help change the awareness and perception of tech careers? Check out our prior research with Oracle Academy "Altering the Vision of Who Can Succeed in Computing" for more ideas and resources.