The technology industry’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly in June, hitting 2.2 percent, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It stood at 2.0 percent in May. Technology consulting added 1,400 positions in June (and has added 34,400 year-to-date); data processing, hosting, and related services gained 2,200 jobs during the same period. Computer and electronic product manufacturing lost 2,100 positions. Despite tech’s low unemployment rate, there’s been a fair amount of debate over the strength of the startup economy. Even as a growing number of startups have attracted massive valuations—according to CB Insights, 169 companies are considered “unicorns,” or companies worth at least a billion dollars on paper—pundits and analysts have wondered openly whether there’s a “startup bubble” set to pop in the near future. “I think it’s in the middle of coming to an end right now,” Vikram Mansharamani, an equity investor and lecturer at Yale University, recently told Dice Insights. “We’re seeing bubble dynamics, if not a widespread bubble. Within those dynamics there are definitely winners, but there are also a lot of losers.” Despite some fears surrounding startups, there are few signs that the need for tech professionals will slacken anytime soon. Some 21 percent of CIOs recently surveyed by Robert Half Technology said they planned on expanding their technology teams in the remaining months of 2016. An additional 63 percent expected to hire only for open IT roles. Only 13 percent indicated that they would place any tech-hiring plans on hold in the second half of the year. Those CIOs also said that they were looking for network administrators, desktop support, and database-management workers. In a separate study, recruiters and managers told Dice that hiring software developers and engineers represented their top hiring priority this year. As firms across the country continue to build out their cloud and mobile capabilities, the need for skilled tech pros is as strong as ever. Tech Unemployment Ticks Up to 2.2 Percent
The technology industry’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly in June, hitting 2.2 percent, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It stood at 2.0 percent in May. Technology consulting added 1,400 positions in June (and has added 34,400 year-to-date); data processing, hosting, and related services gained 2,200 jobs during the same period. Computer and electronic product manufacturing lost 2,100 positions. Despite tech’s low unemployment rate, there’s been a fair amount of debate over the strength of the startup economy. Even as a growing number of startups have attracted massive valuations—according to CB Insights, 169 companies are considered “unicorns,” or companies worth at least a billion dollars on paper—pundits and analysts have wondered openly whether there’s a “startup bubble” set to pop in the near future. “I think it’s in the middle of coming to an end right now,” Vikram Mansharamani, an equity investor and lecturer at Yale University, recently told Dice Insights. “We’re seeing bubble dynamics, if not a widespread bubble. Within those dynamics there are definitely winners, but there are also a lot of losers.” Despite some fears surrounding startups, there are few signs that the need for tech professionals will slacken anytime soon. Some 21 percent of CIOs recently surveyed by Robert Half Technology said they planned on expanding their technology teams in the remaining months of 2016. An additional 63 percent expected to hire only for open IT roles. Only 13 percent indicated that they would place any tech-hiring plans on hold in the second half of the year. Those CIOs also said that they were looking for network administrators, desktop support, and database-management workers. In a separate study, recruiters and managers told Dice that hiring software developers and engineers represented their top hiring priority this year. As firms across the country continue to build out their cloud and mobile capabilities, the need for skilled tech pros is as strong as ever. 
