Good news for Philly tech workers: Hiring expected to pick up this year

After dipping in 2023, hiring for tech roles is expected to pick up this year in the Philadelphia region, according to new data from the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

“The macro trend that we’ve seen across the country, with many of the ups and downs of last year, some companies were reining in the over-hiring that may have occurred previously,” CompTIA chief research officer Tim Herbert said. “Some of them just put hiring on hold.”

Tech employment in the Philadelphia metro area was essentially flat in 2023, with 490 fewer jobs than in 2022. Total tech jobs in the region this year are expected to grow by nearly 1% in the coming year, adding more than 1,200 jobs.

CompTIA used data from labor market analytics firm Lightcast, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to make its predictions.

Some of the categories where hiring slowed last year are the areas expected to see growth in the coming months, Herbert added.

Jobs for software developers, programmers, web and quality assurance are expected to see the greatest hiring increase, with a projected increase of 1.6% in 2024. Last year these jobs accounted for about 37,000 positions in the region, CompTIA found.

The region is projected to see a 1% increase in cybersecurity and systems engineer roles, of which Philly had about 12,000 last year. Database, data science, analytics, and computer scientist jobs, which totaled about 7,000 positions in the area last year, are expected to increase by nearly 2%.

Philadelphia’s net tech employment was 157,986 jobs last year, CompTIA found. More than 90,000 were within the technology industry, meaning that tens of thousands of tech jobs in the Philadelphia region exist in other industries.

The companies recruiting the most tech talent in the Philadelphia region right now represent a number of sectors, Herbert said, including communications, consulting, finance, insurance, and education. That offers “a degree of stability” for professionals in this market.

“I always view this as beneficial, the more industry sectors you have represented,” he said. “You may not see a big run-up in job posting because some of the big tech firms aren’t hiring [here], but you also won’t see the volatility when they scale back.”

Another benefit of these jobs, Herbert added, is that they pay better than the typical employment in Philadelphia. The median tech wage in Philadelphia, based on 2022 data, was $102,479, more than double the median wage for the region.

Still, the data show, these jobs are disproportionately white and male. Representation of Black, Latinx, and female workers in tech occupations are roughly half of what they would be if they matched the total workforce.