Virginia tech workforce grows in depth and breadth: CompTIA releases year in review State of the Tech Workforce report

Nearly 5,000 net new jobs added in 2022, more growth projected for this year

RICHMOND, Va., March 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Against the backdrop of an eventful year tech employment in Virginia added new jobs and grew in depth and breadth, according to today’s release of new research from CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.

CompTIA’s annual “State of the Tech Workforce” reveals that net tech employment¹ in Virginia grew by 1.4%, adding 4,898 net new jobs. ² CompTIA forecasts a 2.1% increase in tech employment for 2023 – approximately 7,500 net new jobs.

Nearly 360,000 people work in tech jobs in Virginia, spanning both technical and non-technical workers employed by tech companies and tech professionals who work in other industries. That represents 8.7% of the overall state workforce, the third highest concentration of tech workers relative to the overall employment base among all states. Virginia’s tech workforce ranks fifth in size nationally. The estimated median wage for a tech worker in Virginia is $109,646. That’s 138% higher than the median wage for all occupations in the state.

Virginia’s tech industry delivers an economic impact of nearly $62 billion – 10.8% of the state economy. There are an estimated 23,483 tech business establishments in the state, including 1,542 that opened for business in 2022 – the seventh highest total across the country.

CompTIA’s “State of the Tech Workforce” is the most comprehensive source of data on the size and scope of the U.S. technology industry and workforce. The report includes data on employment, wages, business establishments, job postings, workforce diversity, emerging tech metrics and more. Among other highlights from the new report:

Occupations poised for growth – Positions in software development, programming, web development and quality assurance (3.1%); emerging technologies, IT project management and related areas (2.6%); and cybersecurity and systems engineers (2.5%) are projected to see the most growth in Virginia this year.

Emerging tech employment opportunities – 30.8% of all tech jobs postings in the state last year were for occupations related to emerging technologies or for positions that required emerging tech skills. With 57,316 emerging tech jobs postings, Virginia ranked fourth nationally.

Workforce diversity – Virginia is in the first quartile in the report’s diversity index, a measurement of the depth and breadth of diversity in the tech workforce for seven primary race and ethnicity groups, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women account for 27% of Virginia’s tech workforce; Black or African American workers, 13%; and Hispanic or Latino workers, 5%.

Access the full report at https://www.cyberstates.org/.

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world’s leading information technology (IT) certification and training body. CompTIA is a mission-driven organization committed to unlocking the potential of every student, career changer or professional seeking to begin or advance in a technology career. Each year CompTIA, directly and through its global network of partners, provides millions of people with training, education and certification opportunities designed to help them build career-ready IT skills. To learn more visit https://www.comptia.org/

Media Contact
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
[email protected]
630.678.8468

¹ The tech workforce consists of two primary components – technology professionals working in technical positions (IT support, network engineering, software development, data science, etc.) and business professionals employed by technology companies. Combined they are represented by the “net tech employment” designation.

² The 2022 employment estimates and 2023 projections represent the most up-to-date data at the time of publication. As with any labor market data source there is a lag effect, recent developments during late 2022 and early 2023 will likely not be fully reflected in the data.

SOURCE CompTIA