Month: February 2021

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Data Shows Information Technology Jobs Grow, Showing Recovery

In January, the United States economy struggled, adding only 49,000 jobs overall. Despite the low number of total jobs, the past two months saw 55,000 new Information Technology (IT) employment, revised from the 18,000, which was initially reported according to research from Janco Associates, Inc.

Compared to January 2020, total U.S. IT jobs have decreased by 35,800, or about one percent. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100,000 IT employees were furloughed, representing roughly three percent of the entire workforce.

According to CompTIA’s press release, the IT sector saw growth of 11,500 new hires and an estimated 40,000 total new technology employees. CompTIA calculates technical and non-technical positions, whereas Janco analyzes IT positions, including software developers in all industries.

Tim Hebert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA, said, “With net job gains of 33,500 positions through the first two months of 2020, this is the best start to the year for the tech sector since 2017. However, we must acknowledge the possibility of a hiring lull due to the uncertainty many employers are facing.”

CompTIA calculated that an estimated 78,000 IT-related jobs were added in January across the industry sectors, including sales positions. The unemployment rate of 2.4 percent was down from three percent in December 2020. In all job areas, the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 6.7 percent to 6.3 percent. The number of IT-related job listings also grew in January to nearly 26,000, surpassing 232,000.

Janco CEO M. Victor Janulaitis expects eleven percent growth in U.S. IT jobs over the coming decade. He said, “Most of the growth in the IT job market will be with software developers, quality assurance, and testers. This will be driven by [work from home] as it is will be embraced by more enterprises in normal operations and internet-centric applications are developed and deployed. The projected growth for that sector alone will be almost 18 percent,” he said.

According to CompTIA, the states with the most IT job openings in January included California, Texas, Virginia, New York, and Florida. The most substantial month-over-month growth in job postings took place in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Alabama.

The top three industries for IT were scientific and technical services (51,278 job postings), finance and insurance (23,566 job postings), and manufacturing (20,581 job postings.)

Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems provides professional results for all computer needs. We design, create, and code an array of custom software programs and websites; implement internet marketing strategies for enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results; repair and provide support for computers of both residential and professional nature; build custom systems and servers, and offer secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call us at 810-224-5252 or e-mail info@cpsmi.com.

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.

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PC Sales See Biggest Upswing in Ten Years

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home and shelter-in-place orders have driven Personal Computer (PC) sales to the highest rate in a decade.

IDC, a PC company, said global shipments of PCs in 2020 reached 302.6 million devices, a 13 percent increase from 2019. The jump was the largest annual gain since 2010, with the volume being the largest since 2014, which was notable since six of the past ten years saw declines. Gartner Research also showed a boost in PC shipments, with steady growth that was the highest measured since 2010.

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s mobile device tracking team, said, “A lot of volume early in the year was because companies had people working at home. Enterprises purchased large numbers of laptops to equip those suddenly-remote workers; the sales volume at time sufficient to completely throttle the component supply chain.”

With many school districts focusing on remote learning, many tried to equip students with PCs (low-cost laptops), to learn adequately. Families with school-aged children also added PCs to households when districts could not afford to cover costs for every child.

Gaming PCs also proved useful during the pandemic, when people were hunkered down at home for long periods of lockdowns and quarantine. Entertainment-wise, families needed distractions, and games became an easy target. Those interested in playing games on old PCs were in for a surprise, as many didn’t make the cut for gaming, crafts, or other projects. Therefore, those consumers were forced to purchase new devices, which also helped drive sales.

Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, and Lenovo reported the highest PC shipment numbers for 2020, according to IDC. The highest year-over-year growth rate went to Apple, coming in at roughly 22.8 million. Chromebook, Google’s laptop powered by a Chrome-based operating system, also surged in 2020. Shipments grew by more than 80 percent, totaling approximately 30 million.

Ryan Reith of IDC, leader of the firm’s mobile device tracking group, said, “Demand is pushing the PC market forward and all signs indicate this surge still has a way to go. In retrospect, the pandemic not only fueled the PC market demand but also created opportunities that resulted in a market expansion.”

Consumer shipments are projected to increase through 2024. “We’ll see a lot of demand in 2021 because some of that went unfulfilled in 2020. Those orders slipped from the end of 2020 into early 2021,” Ubrani said.

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Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems provides professional results for all computer needs. We design, create, and code an array of custom software programs and websites; implement internet marketing strategies for enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results; repair and provide support for computers of both residential and professional nature; build custom systems and servers, and offer secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call us at 810-224-5252 or e-mail info@cpsmi.com.

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.