OK Boomers, Millennials Are an Increasing Force in IT

The new generation of IT professionals looks younger as millennials now make up nearly half (47%) of the IT job market.

That’s according to Janco Associates‘ latest analysis of the IT job market and employment data. Some 88,100 new IT jobs were created during the past 11 months.

“That is well on target to create a total of 98,000-100,000 new jobs for the year,” said Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis. “At the same time, as younger individuals become CIOs, they tend to hire direct reports that are in their age groups. There still will be older IT specialist[s] that have legacy skills who will remain in the workforce for some time; however, management positions for them will be limited at best. Blockchain, data processing technology (DPT) and applications on the internet will be manned by IT pros who are in the 30-to-40-year-old age groups.”

Gen Xers are 37% of the workforce, while baby boomers have shrunk to just 16%, according to Janco.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) added 5,800 new jobs to its initially reported September and October employment data for IT jobs,” Janulaitis said. “We are now completing our interview of CIOs for our January 2020 IT Salary Survey. They say that the time to hire new employees [is] now closer to three to four months from the time the position is approved and the individual is on staff. In 2018, the time for the same process was closer to two to three months. As a result, we have reduced our forecast to just over 90,000 new IT jobs versus our earlier reported 100,000 forecast.”

Compliance will be a bigger issue in 2020 with the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CaCPA) mandates that go into effect on Jan. 1, according to Janco. Another factor will be the move toward blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT). Many of the new positions created in 2020 will be driven by both compliance mandates and blockchain applications, it said.

“With the high demand for IT pros, the career opportunities outlook for IT professionals continues to be bright,” Janulaitis said. “Over the long term, we feel that more individuals will look at IT concentrations at the university level.  Also, professional trade schools will be able to expand the scope of their training and certification programs. The risk that companies face will be to validate the qualifications of new entrants into the IT job market as IT pros.”