The Market For Computing Careers (2024)

If you are visiting this page, then there is a good chance that you are a student interested in a career in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). What is the job market going to be like when you graduate?

Predicting the future is always risky, but when it comes to forecasting the U.S. labor market, most people look to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (US-BLS). Among other things, the US-BLS periodically tries to predict how many openings there will be for over 1,000 different U.S. job titles, ranging from "advertising and promotions managers" to "refuse and recyclable materials collectors".

The following chart lets us visualize and compare the US-BLS projections for the average annual openings in specific STEM-related careers:

(Click on the chart for a larger image.)

As you can see, the US-BLS is predicting that the five STEM careers with the most job openings are all in computing, implying that computing is the safest STEM career option for the foreseeable future.

More precisely, the US-BLS predicts that each year, the STEM careers with the most job openings will be:

1. Software developers and testers,
2. Computer support specialists,
3. Computer and information analysts,
4. Other computing occupations, and
5. Computer network and system administrators.

If we aggregate these US-BLS projections to see the number of jobs per year in each STEM area, we get the following charts:

(Click on the chart for a larger image.)

If we take those numbers and represent them as percentages of all STEM job opportunities, we get the following chart:

(Click on the chart for a larger image.)

According to the US-BLS, roughly 2 out of 3 of the STEM job openings are going to be in computing for the forseeable future! It is worth mentioning that this is not a fluke -- these projections are fairly consistent with those from four, eight, and twelve years ago.

What kind of "computing" careers are these? The bar-chart to the right of the pie-chart breaks down the "Computing" openings into the different career categories, and shows the projected STEM percentage for each career option. According to these projections, roughly 32% of the STEM job openings will be in software development / engineering, compared to roughly 20% in the other branches of engineering combined!

Why will there be so many software development/engineering jobs? We see two main reasons:

• One reason is the mobile computing market. It used to be that every company wanted a website (and they still do), creating demand for web developers. But today, most companies also want apps for smart-phones and tablets, whether running Apple's iOS operating system or Google's Android operating system. The need to create and maintain these apps is one factor that is creating a huge demand for software developers.

• Another reason is that manufacturers are increasingly embedding computers into appliances like refrigerators, ovens, water heaters, and so on; this is creating the so-called Internet of Things. Computers are being embedded into a wide range of devices, from "smart speakers" (e.g., Amazon Echo/Alexa, Apple Homepod/Siri, and Google Nest/Assistant) to smart thermostats (e.g., Nest) to smart doorbells (e.g., Ring) to the new vehicles currently being designed by automobile manufacturers. All of these embedded computers require software to do anything useful, adding to the demand for software developers. These embedded computers will communicate by sending data across networks, creating demand for system and networking professionals. When things go wrong, the people using all of these devices will need technical support, creating demand for support specialists. Together, these developments are creating a huge demand for people with advanced computing skills, especially in software development.

Note that basic computer literacy (i.e., knowing how to use Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, or Powerpoint) or CAD-design skills will not qualify you for these jobs. Most of these jobs require advanced computing skills that you will only gain by studying computer science and/or software engineering.

The Competition

When you are trying to land a job, a major consideration is: how much competition is there for the position? To provide some insight into this question, our final chart compares the US-BLS projections for the number of job openings in the various STEM areas against recent (2022) data from the National Center for Education Statistics for the number of bachelors degrees being awarded in those areas:

(Click on the chart for a larger image.)

As can be seen above:

• In Computing, there are far more job openings than there are college graduates to fill them -- the projected openings/grads ratio is 3.48! The number of computing grads has increased markedly in the past few years, but the US-BLS is projecting even more computing job growth! So long as this demand continues to exceed the supply, the level of competition for computing jobs should be relatively low, especially if you are willing to move to where the jobs are.
• In Mathematics, there are also more job openings than there are college graduates. (The projected openings/grads ratio is 1.28!) If you look again at our first chart, you can see that this is largely due to Data Science, which offers good career prospects.
• Every other area of STEM has more college graduates than projected job openings, according to the US-BLS.

Preparing for a Career

In his 1993 book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell argued that anyone who practices a skill for 10,000 hours can master that skill. If that is true, then it follows that if (for example) you want to prepare yourself for one of those numerous careers in software development, your best strategy is to choose a college major that will give you lots of practice actually developing software.

More generally, the US-BLS projections predict that most of the STEM careers are going to be in computing. If you want to maximize your chances of success in one of these careers, choose a computing-related major that provides lots of hands-on practice in that area.

However, employers also place high value on communication, collegiality, being able to work in groups, and other "people" skills. To maximize your career opportunities, choose a college or university that will also help you develop these "soft" skills. A liberal arts education is especially good at helping you develop these skills, specifically: critical thinking, writing, speaking, and giving presentations to non-technical audiences.

The Takeaway

In the 21^st century, computing technology (especially software) affects more and more of our day-to-day lives, and people are needed to create and maintain that technology.

If you want the best possible preparation for the majority of tomorrow's STEM careers, the smart move is to major in a computing-related discipline (computer science, software engineering, or data science) at a college or university that will also help you develop your "people" skills.

To prepare students for this century's careers, Calvin's Department of Computer Science offers:

• a computing education that is measurably a top program, nationally,
• strong computing programs, including our:
  • ABET-accredited BCS program,
  • BS+MS in Data Science program,
• an excellent faculty,
• outstanding facilities,
• undergraduate research opportunities, and
• a distinctively Christian approach to computer science;

If God has gifted you with creative, logical, and/or quantitative abilities, He may be calling you to a career in computing. We invite you to join us -- we will do everything we can to help you explore that calling and develop your gifts.