IT Job Market Shrinks for First Time in Over Two Years

By January, roles in IT were mostly secured from mass retrenchment But major technology companies Like Amazon.com Inc. And

Alphabet ink

And even the firms outside the technical field like chemical company

Dow ink

and industrial and consumer product manufacturers

3m Co.

Capital One Financial Corporation

last month laid off About 1,100 employees in the “agile” group within its technology department, who focused on a software development methodology Which uses more rapid and flexible processes. McLean, Va. -based bank said those roles will be absorbed by its existing engineering teams and product managers.

Janco Chief Executive Officer Viktor Janulaitis said IT positions that continue to be cut or automated are in data center operations and telecommunications, and technology leaders are looking to cut “non-essential” managers and employees, not Workers with technical skills such as engineers. ,

Still, employment in the overall technology sector hasn’t decreased, according to IT trade group CompTIA. And despite the slowdown in IT jobs, Janco found that more than 109,000 IT jobs remain unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates, reflecting the IT skills gap in areas such as Cyber ​​security and software development.

“IT labor is in high demand, which will continue to favor those seeking IT employment,” said Christopher Gilchrist, a principal analyst at

Forrester Research ink

That demand generally means that IT workers will also be less affected by layoffs than employees in other departments, Mr. Gilchrist said.

Some chief information officers say the competition for IT talent is as fierce as ever—and Recruiting new talent is a priority Even some companies are implementing cost-cutting measures.

“The war for talent is very real,” said Sriram Sitharaman, CIO of the semiconductor software maker.

Synopses ink

Mr Sitharaman said that developing and attracting talent is a priority, although the company plans to do so “with lower recruitment costs”.

Other tech leaders like Jason Conyard, CIO of the software giant

Vmware Inc.,

said they are focusing on training existing employees with new skills such as machine learning and automation, which is a trend Companies of all sectors have bowed amid a tight labor market.

“The skills that got us to where we are today are not the skills that will get us where we are going,” Mr. Conyard said.

Although some businesses are losing staff, Mr Gilchrist said tech leaders in particular “don’t need to be too aggressive with short-term cuts that will essentially force them to play catch-up in the long run”. ” He said instead they may “reposition” their existing employees to focus on business strengths.

Monica Caldas, CIO of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, said that while the Boston-based insurer has Developed In-house Training Programs In areas such as cloud computing and software development, it is still focused on hiring engineers and people with data and cyber security skills.

“Not only do we need to provide the capability to drive business forward, but we also need the best engineering equipment, state-of-the-art architecture and people in the right roles,” Ms. Caldas said.

write to belle lynn at belle.lynn@wsj.com