The job market is looking up next year for I.T. professionals, and the positions in biggest demand at manufacturers, distributors, retailers and professional services firms are in digital commerce and marketing, research firm Janco Associates Inc. says in a report released yesterday.
“In the course of getting more involved in the digital world, companies of all kinds are focusing on positions focused on digital operations,” Victor Janulaitis, Janco’s CEO, said in an interview today. The report is based on a recently completed survey of more than 100 senior executives in the United States.
The three positions that are in greatest demand, Janulaitis said, are chief digital officer, digital brand manager and social media specialist. Janco forecasts 84,000 net new jobs next year, up from just under 30,000 this year, including 23,400 recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics through November and 6,000 that Janco forecasts for this month. “All net new jobs tend to be associated with developing and managing e-commerce, social networking and digital marketing,” Janulaitis said.
He added that rising interest in blockchain technology—a form of maintaining internet-based ledgers of such data as commerce transactions and customer records—is also driving up demand for I.T. experts who can develop and test various blockchain technology applications.
Janulaitis noted that 2017 was initially projected to have more than 100,000 net new I.T. jobs, but the actual numbers recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics came in far low because of economic uncertainty and the detrimental effects of extensive hurricanes and wildfires.
Janulaitis said the recent survey indicated that I.T. hiring will be spurred by the expected passage of the pending federal tax reform bill. “If the tax reform doesn’t pass, we will revise our numbers downward,” he added.
Janco will release within several weeks its annual survey of I.T. salaries.
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