IT Job Market lost 135,100 jobs since April 2024

IT Job Market Shrank in Q1

IT Pro unemployment rate improves to 4.6% from 5.0% last month – but for the fourth month in a row it is higher than the US National Unemployment rate

Park City - UT - e-janco.com - Janco reports the prospects for new jobs for IT pros remain poor at best.

IT Job Market Change - March 2024

13 month cummulative job loss - 135,100 jobs

Updated with the data from the BLS and Janco Associates Inc as of May 2025

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The CEO of Janco, M. Victor Janulaitis said, “There continues to be uncertainty in the outlook for new IT job creation. Opportunities for IT Pros will be poor except for AI implementations, which focus on improved productivity and staff reductions. Jobs lost are in the telecommunications, reporting, monitoring, and support functions. Many of the lost telecommunications jobs lost wee due to AI staff reduction efforts. Compliance reporting and management, another area where AI is focused with resulting staff reductions. Companies do not have the desire to hire new staff to meet mandated compliance requirements. Ergo, they are focusing on AI to automate as many of those tasks as possible, especially for reporting and monitoring.”

He added, “There are a limited number of IT Pros with working AI and Omni Commerce experience. They are in high demand. IT pros with legacy skills in small markets, such as Nashville and Tulsa, have a difficult time finding positions Those in large markets like Dallas and New York have more opportunities. From our conversations with HR specialists, we find that approximately 4% to 5% who are out of work are choosing to look outside of the IT field. IT Pros in the middle of their careers, look at AI as a threat to their further employment.”

Latest YTD IT job market data - Subscribe to our Newsletter to get this information delivered to your inbox as soon as it is released. SUBSCRIBE

A preliminary impact of DOGE is being felt as many contracts for IT Professionals have been put on hold and government IT pros do not have a clear picture of what the future holds for them. In the first quarter of 2025, the IT job market shrank by 34,200. The number of unemployed IT professionals dropped slightly in March to 119K from 138K in February. We believe that many low-skilled, legacy-skilled IT pros, or displaced IT professionals have stopped looking for jobs in the IT sector.”

He added, “The fluctuations in the US stock markets and the feeling by some economic forecasters that we are in a recession or soon to be in one is slowing down hiring efforts in many enterprises. Questions like - What will the impact of tariffs be? How long will it take for inflation to be brought under control? Will the Congress pass the Trump tax cuts? Will the Ukraine and Middle East wars be stopped? All of these are issues that enterprises are facing, is impacting the pace of hiring of IT Pros.”

The CEO stated, “From our interviews with over 130 CFOs and CIOs, we found that many feel there is a good chance there will be an economic downturn in the second or third quarters of 2025. However, it will not be deep or long in duration.” Also, he said, “The unemployment rate for IT Professionals is 4.6%, which is higher than the overall national unemployment rate of 4.2%. The full impact of the DOGE initiatives has not been felt as of yet. Job growth has been in the private sector.“

National Unemployment Rate versus IT Pros Unemployment Rate

In March the BLS reported the National Unemployment Rate was 4.2% and 4.6% for IT Professionals.

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Janulaitis stated, “We have found that hiring and job growth continue to be in small to mid-sized enterprises. Many of the larger firms continue to be focused on improvements in productivity and replacing lower-level skills with AI applications. AI continues to halt the growth of entry-level positions within IT, especially in customer service, internal reporting, telecommunications, and hosting automation. C-level executives continue to be focused on eliminating “non-essential” managers, staff, and services. Experienced coders and developers have limited opportunities with legacy applications. The highest demand continues to be for AI, security professionals, new technology programmers, and Internet processing IT Pros.“

The CEO of Janco said, “There continues to be uncertainty in the outlook for IT initiatives. A preliminary impact of DOGE is being felt as many contracts for IT Professionals have been put on hold and government IT pros do not have a clear picture of what the future holds for them. The number of unemployed IT professionals dropped slightly in February to 148K from 152K in January.”

Historic IT Job Market Size

Data complied by Janco Associates with data as of May 2025

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The CEO added, “According to the latest BLS data analyzed, there are now approximately 4.04 million jobs for IT Professionals in the US. Economic uncertainty continues to hurt overall IT hiring. Large high-tech firms continue to focus on improving bottom lines and justify investments in AI and LLM solutions.”

The CEO stated “From our interviews with over 100 CFOs and CIOs, we found that the start of the new administration continues to be viewed as positive. They do feel there is a good chance there will be an economic turndown in the second or third quarter of 2025. However, it will be not deep or long in duration.” He added, “IT Pros who were unemployed last month found jobs more quickly than was anticipated as CIOs rushed to fill open positions.”

Also, he said, “The unemployment rate for IT Professionals is 5.4% which is higher than the overall national unemployment rate of 4.1%. The full impact of the DOGE initiatives has not been felt as of yet. However, over the past several quarters much of the overall job growth was in the government sectors of the economy. With the new administration that will not be the case in the future.”

National Unemployment Rate versus IT Pros Unemployment Rate

In March the BLS reported the National Unemployment Rate was 4.2% and 4.6% for IT Professionals.

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Janulaitis stated, “From our interviews, we have found hiring and job growth continues to be in small to mid-sized enterprises.  Many of the larger firms continue to be focused on improvements in productivity and replacing lower-level skills with AI applications.  AI continues to halt the growth of entry-level positions within IT, especially in customer service, internal reporting, telecommunications, and hosting automation.  C-level executives continue to be focused on eliminating “non-essential” managers, staff, and services. Experienced coders and developers have limited opportunities with legacy applications. The highest demand continues to be for AI, security professionals, new technology programmers, and Internet processing IT Pros.“

The CEO added, “According to the latest BLS data analyzed, there are now approximately 4.03 million jobs for IT Professionals in the US. Economic uncertainty continues to hurt overall IT hiring. Large high-tech firms continue to focus on improving bottom lines and justify investments in AI and LLM solutions.”

IT Job Market shrank for the second year in a row - Over 121K jobs lost

There are approximately 119K unemployed IT Professionals. The IT job market shrank by over 200K jobs in the prior 24 months. Overall that is a flattening of the long-term growth rate pattern of the IT job market. Based on our data and forecast models, there will be limited (if any) growth in the IT Job Market in the calendar year 2025.

Data complied and forecast updated by Janco Associates with data as of May 2025

Janulaitis added, “Companies that provide outsourcing services and consultants are scrambling to maintain their existing contracts.  There are few opportunities for outsourcers as many CEOs want to reduce costs and show they want to be in the US.  Consultants who are not in the AI space are not hiring and some are even reducing staff.” 

Janco’s current forecast is that the IT job market will be limited at best in CY 2025. Our current forecast is that the IT Job market will shrink again. That will make that the third year in a row where there will be fewer jobs for IT Pros in a single calendar year.

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