How COVID-19 impacted job postings across US states and employers

While the coronavirus pandemic shook the enterprise, the tech industry may not have been hit the hardest, a Dice report found. The report aimed to create an accurate showcase of how the pandemic impacted various locations and employers in the US, comparing data from the first quarter of 2019 to that of 2020, as well as during the months COVID-19 really took off. 

The virus caused widespread layoffs and furloughs in industries that relied on in-person contacts, such as food, hospitality, and tourism. Some companies experienced hiring freezes in an effort to limit the number of new people at work. 

However, Dice's Tech Job Report found that Q1 job postings witnessed a significant spike compared to Q1 of 2019. With the ability of many tech companies to shift online, organizations were able to continue business as usual. 

As evidenced by the data, some tech companies even boosted hiring to meet the demands of shifting to an all-remote workforce. The report identified the US states and cities with the most uptick in job postings, as well as the companies that appeared to increase hiring most. 

Job postings by location 

Looking at Q1 of 2020 and Q1 of 2019, the report found that almost every US state experienced growth in job postings year over year, but more variability existed from February to March of 2020.

States by tech job postings in Q1 

1. California (5% increase YoY)
2. Texas (42%)
3. Virginia (30%)
4. New York (7%)
5.  North Carolina (50%)
6.  Florida (6%)
7. Illinois (31%)
8. Massachusetts  (43%)
9.  Georgia (8%)
10. Pennsylvania (35%)

Change in state tech job postings from February to March 

1. Virginia (15%)
2. Missouri (9%)
3. North Carolina (9%)
4. California (7%)
5. Illinois (7%)
6. Arizona (6%)
7. Texas (5%)
8. Oregon (4%)
9. Maryland (3%)
10. Colorado (3%)

Change in city tech job posting from February to March

The report also found that the majority of featured cities saw an increase in job posting volume between February and March. Specifically, Arlington, VA, San Diego, CA, and Raleigh, NC, all witnessed increases by at least 20%.

The causes of those sharp increases vary. Arlington, for example, has a high number of federal government and defense contracting and is also preparing for the upcoming location of an Amazon headquarters (HQ2), according to the report. 

The increase in San Diego between February and March could have to do with the location of major companies including Qualcomm, Booz Allen Hamilton, and General Atomics, which are all hiring. 

Here are the top 10 cities with the most change in job posting volume between February and March:

1. Raleigh, NC (28%)
2. San Diego, CA (23%)
3. Arlington, VA (20%)
4. Saint Louis, MO (17%)
5. Irving, TX (15%)
6. Philadelphia, PA (15%)
7. Plano, TX (14%)
8. Phoenix, AZ (13%)
9. Austin, TX (13%)
10. San Francisco, CA (13%)

Employers increasing tech hiring 

The top employers in Q1 that increased tech hiring included tech giants, consulting agencies, and government contractors. Here are the 10 employers hiring most in that first quarter: 

1. Lockheed Martin
2. Infosys
3. Oracle
4. Northrop Grumman
5. Amazon
6. Verizon
7. Capital One
8. Booz Allen Hamilton
9. Leidos
10. NTT Data

As for companies hiring the most at the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon took the lead, looking most to hire software developers and network engineers to help with the surge in Amazon orders, the report found. 

Here are the companies that increased their tech hiring most between February and March:

1. Amazon (110%)
2. Cisco Systems (71%)
3. Walmart (64%)
4. Parsons Infrastructure (61%)
5.  NBC (43%)
6. Advanced Micro Devices (42%)
7. Sony (38%)
8. Sapient Corporation (29%)
9. SAIC (28%)
10. VMware (24%)