News

TypeScript Job Postings Explode

• By David Ramel
• 08/24/2022

A new tech jobs report for the first half of 2022 from careers marketplace Dice shows that postings for TypeScript positions have exploded compared to the same period last year.

In fact, TypeScript's 142 percent job posting growth increase from 1H 2021 to 1H 2022 almost topped the chart, trailing only cloud computing, which saw a 162 percent increase. The new report is just the latest of several similar reports that have revealed strong traction for Microsoft's strongly typed programming language that builds on JavaScript by adding support for optional static typing.

"Employers are on the lookout for a handful of up-and-coming skills, most notably cloud computing, TypeScript, Go and R," says the latest Dice Tech Job Report. "The latter three are quickly becoming integral languages in many organizations' tech stacks, used for everything from data analytics (R) to cloud-based applications (Go) to a JavaScript substitute (TypeScript). Based on the rising number of job postings requesting these skills, these may enjoy increased adoption over the next several years."

Overall, Dice said job postings for tech-focused roles are up 45 percent from January to June this year, while registering a 52 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021.

"The overall job market for technology professionals continues to expand as organizations develop and advance their digital infrastructure to meet consumers' increasing post-Covid demand for digital access to goods and services, despite the headlines of layoffs and hiring freezes at tech-focused companies," Dice said in a news release this week.

The company also applied some interpretation to those overall results.

"While the continued strength of the tech job market may come as a surprise to some, the results are due to what appears to be a renaissance for tech talent hiring across the nation," Dice said. "Companies may be taking note of consumers' 'new normal' regarding their preferences for digital options sparked by work-from-home pandemic living. These new lifestyle preferences, coupled with remote job opportunities across the country, have created a bidding war for tech talent among companies in a wide range of industries to stay competitive in attracting technologists who will lead their digital transformation."

Of special interest to Visual Studio Magazine readers, .NET Framework was No. 8 on the job postings growth ladder, though it's unclear if that really refers to the old, proprietary, Windows-only .NET Framework and not its successor, the "NET Core" open source, cross-platform line of frameworks, which have subsequently morphed into just .NET 5, .NET 6 and so on. This reporter's guess is that the data reflects job posts for the modern versions (or at least most of them, if the old and new are bundled together).

The only other Microsoft product on the top-15 list is Power BI, in 10th place.

The comprehensive report also dives deep into data concerning locations (including San Antonio, Miami and Minneapolis hubs), occupations, employers and more.

Here is how Dice summarized key takeaways:

• Strong sustained demand for tech talent: Demand for tech talent continues to grow at a swift pace, with the number of tech job postings up 45 percent since the beginning of the year and up 52 percent compared to the first half of 2021. A hiring spike in May was followed in June by the first month-over-month decline in tech job postings in 2022 (17 percent).

  The decline can be attributed to not only an overcorrection to May's spike and reaction to talk of inflation and a bear market, but also to a seasonal trend seen in previous years. In 2019, there was an 11 percent decrease in tech job postings between May and June. Even so, postings are still up 60 percent in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

• YoY tech job posting growth nationwide: Technologists' preference for remote and hybrid work persists and is keeping newer, smaller tech hubs at the top of the lists of cities and states attracting tech talent. This isn't to say traditional tech hubs such as Silicon Valley are a thing of the past, though, as they're very much still thriving.

  With high demand for tech talent prevalent across industries, and companies settling into a firmer approach to work environment and schedule expectations, technologists still have opportunities to work anywhere — and they're doing just that.

• Employers need technologists with data-related skills: When it comes to the tech industry's more lucrative skills, it's all about the data. According to Dice's most recent Tech Salary Report, mastery of data storage and processing tools such as HANA, Hadoop and PAAS can translate into superior compensation. Similar data-related skills are among the most in-demand by employers; SQL, Python (used frequently in data analytics) and AWS enjoyed some of the biggest growth in job postings between January and June.

  Expect these trends to continue as more organizations gravitate toward storing and processing data in the cloud, which could further spike demand for cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure and other related skills.

• Efficiency requires traditional tech roles with specialized skills: While certain sections of the technology industry have experienced some turbulence this year, leading to hiring slowdowns at some companies, software engineers and developers remain in strong demand. Those who've mastered the skills essential for building and maintaining tech stacks and databases, such as SQL, automation and the principles of software development, have a great shot at landing a job anywhere.

  But the key is to always keep one's skills up to date; recruiters and hiring managers can (and should) take steps to ensure that all job candidates are well-versed in the latest and greatest tech; in addition, they should consider training programs to upskill (and retain) current employees, as studies have shown a strong desire on technologists' part for continuing training and education.

For the report Dice, a DHI Group brand, analyzed 3 million tech job postings between January and June 2022 and compared the results to job posting data from January through June 2021, as well as historical trends, for which data was supplied by the company's partner, Lightcast. Full methodology is available in the report.