“Almost every company is going through this — they need tech talent,” said Lori Beer, global chief information officer at JPMorgan.
If the economy goes into recession, employment in technical professions will also suffer. There are already signs of softening: Job postings may indicate hiring intentions, and online postings in November for tech jobs fell below 288,000, the first month this year to fall below 300,000, according to a CompTIA analysis of data from Lightcast, a labor analysis. firm.
Some labor market analysts expect employment in tech jobs to fall, especially if the economy weakens further. But history suggests that a downturn would be short-lived. There have been ups and downs, but job growth in tech occupations has nearly doubled since 2000, when 3.33 million Americans were employed in tech occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the aftermath of the dot-com crisis, there were a few months in 2003 when the unemployment rate for tech jobs rose above the national level. But for most of the past two decades, the rate of unemployed tech workers has been about half the national unemployment rate. In November, the unemployment rate for tech workers was 2 percent, compared to the national average of 3.7 percent.
JPMorgan’s top executives have warned of economic turbulence, deal closing has slowed, and investment banking revenues have plummeted on Wall Street this year.
But despite the uncertain economy, Ms Beer said, the bank continues to invest selectively in tech skills, hiring people with expertise in cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence, data science and cybersecurity.
JPMorgan has more than 55,000 technical employees, up from about 50,000 before the pandemic.
Recruiting has been easier, Ms. Beer said, because of Silicon Valley budget cuts. There are more candidates available, she said, and fewer competitive offers for applicants. And turnover has dropped by about half.
