Tech Jobs Soar Across Four Key Metrics
Demand for tech talent ramped up in October. According to CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the global technology industry and workforce, IT employment recorded positives across four key workforce metrics — sector employment, occupation employment, the unemployment rate and employer job postings.
Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IT trade group said the country’s technology sector added an estimated 14,200 jobs this month, including technical and non-technical positions at U.S. tech firms. October marks the third out of the last four months that the tech sector has seen positive employment growth.
For the IT industry, gains were even larger, as the industry added an estimated 142,000 jobs in October,according to CompTIA. That brings the IT unemployment rate down to 2.8 percent from 3.5 percent in September, much lower than the U.S. total unemployment rate of 6.9 percent. The 14,200 additional job postings in October increased the total number of IT jobs available to 239,000.
CompTIA noted that October job growth within the tech sector was led by the addition of 15,800 positions in the IT services and custom software development category, an important indicator of small and medium-size business activity. Demand for tech talent continues to be broad-based with employers across industry sectors in hiring mode, led by professional scientific and technical services, finance and insurance, manufacturing and information.
Washington, D.C., New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles were the top five metropolitan areas with the largest numbers of IT job postings in October. Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and Washington recorded the best month over month gains in job postings.
In other recent appointments and career moves:
MetLife, Inc. has appointed Pawan Verma as Executive Vice President and CIO. He will report to Bill Pappas, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technology and Operations. Verma joins MetLife from Foot Locker where he was the chief information and customer experience officer. He was responsible for leading a 4,000-member team to transform the technology, data and supply chain ecosystem. Prior to Foot Locker, Verma served as vice president of digital and marketing technology for Target where he managed mobile and digital development, data, cloud engineering and architecture. He also has prior eCommerce and mobile experience from roles with Convergys Corporation and Verizon Wireless.
The Wendy's Company has appointed Kevin Vasconi as CIO. He will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor and serve on Wendy's Senior Leadership Team. He will oversee all aspects of Wendy's global technology efforts, including Consumer-facing Digital, Restaurant Technology, Enterprise Architecture and Technology, and Information Security. Prior to joining Wendy's, Kevin worked as Executive Vice President and CIO at Domino's Pizza, Inc., a role from which he retired earlier this month. In Kevin's eight years at Domino's, he served on the executive leadership team and was responsible for developing and leading all domestic and international technology capabilities.
Brunswick Corporation has promoted Michael Adams as Vice President and CIO. He succeeds Danielle Brown, who is leaving Brunswick to pursue other opportunities. Adams will be responsible for Brunswick’s enterprise information systems and continue to advance Brunswick’s IT transformation and multiple digital initiatives in support of Brunswick’s strategic goals. He joined the organization in 2017 as Vice President, Chief Architect, and has held successive IT leadership roles. Previously, he worked with DuPont for many years, most recently as Global Infrastructure Center of Competency (CoC) Leader, DuPont IT.
Whirlpool Corporation has appointed Danielle Brown as Senior Vice President and CIO of Global Information Systems. In this role she will report to Joe Liotine, executive vice president and president, Whirlpool Corporation North America, Global Information Systems, and Global SDA. Brown joins Whirlpool Corporation after serving as Vice President and CIO at Brunswick Corporation, where she was responsible for enabling business strategies by modernizing the technology portfolio, optimizing operations, and leveraging new business partnerships. She previously spent 16 years with DuPont in several strategic and global roles.
And…
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics has appointed Ariane Schiereck as Global CIO.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has appointed Dan Trafton as CTO.
United States Air Force has appointed Kevin Kirsch as Deputy CIO.
Cigna has appointed Noelle Eder as global CIO.
Fairfax County Public Schools has appointed Gautam Sethi as CIO.
Wabtec Corporation has appointed Eric Gebhardt as Executive Vice President and CTO.
Hensel Phelps has appointed Dolores Quezada-Mears as CIO.
Charleston Area Medical Center has appointed Daniel Stross as CIO.
Graphic Packaging has appointed Nikhil Narvekar as Vice President and CTO.
Optum has appointed Simon Nazarian as CIO.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group has appointed Peter Wyner as CIO.
Toronto Dominion Bank has appointed Jim Grech as CTO.
Verizon Wireless has appointed Taylor Brown as CDO.
