More tech jobs these days are in non-tech companies

Looking for a tech job? It might be smart to look outside the tech sector.

Non-tech industries like professional services and transportation, warehousing & wholesale each added more tech jobs last year than the entire tech industry, according to the latest Scoring Tech Talent report by real estate services firm CBRE, which analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s the first time that’s been the case in the 11 years CBRE has been releasing the report.

One reason: The shift to AI at tech companies has meant fewer, more specialized job openings. And the slowdown isn’t just isolated to tech. Tech occupation hiring across industries growth slowed to 3.6% in 2023, from 7.3% in 2022, though that growth is much more in line with historical rates, according to CBRE data.

Of course, when you add up all the other industries, they’ve long surpassed the tech industry in tech talent. At the end of 2023, 55% of all technology workers were employed by companies outside the tech sector, according to industry association CompTIA, roughly what it’s been the past several years.

CompTIA, which releases monthly data, found that employment in tech occupations declined by 28,000 positions in August. That’s led the tech occupation unemployment rate to grow to 3.4%, still below the national rate of 4.2%.