A study was recently conducted by The Stock Dork to discover the most in-demand tech careers. Open vacancies and employment information from Zippia and Glassdoor was collected and analyzed to calculate the average starting salary, average salary range as well as number of open vacancies. Additionally, the information about employed people and their education degree was collected. Finally, the reports from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics provided data on unemployment rates and projected job growth and the composite score was calculated, based on all of the provided metrics.
Findings summed up
| Job | Average starting salary | Average salary range | Unemployment rate | Open vacancies | Number of jobs | Turnover rates (1-2 years) | Projected job growth | Bachelor’s degree only | Composite score |
| System security manager | $105,500 | $141,000-$235,000 | 1.80% | 51,514 | 43% | 32% | 59% | 83.83 | |
| Network/cloud architect | $133,000 | $157,500-$252,000 | 2.40% | 5,015 | 35% | 25% | 60% | 73.34 | |
| IT director | $132,000 | $182,376 – $223,902 | 2.60% | 3,880 | 30% | 15% | 67% | 73.21 | |
| Applications architect | $119,000 | $148,000-$219,000 | 2.10% | 4,928 | 37% | 21% | 77% | 70.30 | |
| Cyber-security engineer | $96,000 | $120,000 – $152,000 | 1.80% | 2,718 | 22% | 32% | 60% | 64.45 | |
| ERP integration manager | $112,500 | $120,500-$135,000 | 2.40% | 5,670 | 43% | 61% | 73% | 64.01 | |
| Software engineer | $92,000 | $114,000-$143,000 | 2.10% | 18,579 | 45% | 25% | 73% | 58.63 | |
| Network security engineer | $93,000 | $116,000-$145,000 | 2.40% | 11,808 | 40% | 35% | 66% | 57.85 | |
| Data security analyst | $82,000 | $104,000-$132,000 | 1.80% | 7,708 | 168,900 | 33% | 31.50% | 62% | 56.45 |
| Network/cloud engineer | $93,500 | $113,000-$140,000 | 2.40% | 9,923 | 42% | 27% | 62% | 53.49 |
The most in-demand tech job is system security manager with a composite score of 83.8, which is based on high salary range, low unemployment and high job growth. The turnover rates for systems security managers are high with 43% but the job market provides the most job openings in the list with 51.5K.
Cloud architects take the second place in the list of the tech careers with highest demand, having the highest starting salary with $133K annually. Cloud architects also have low unemployment but the job market for them is 10 times less than for system security managers with 5K open positions.
IT directors follow closely with a third place and a score of 73.2. Their average starting salary is similar to cloud architects but the unemployment rate is a little higher. The turnover rate for IT directors is the second-lowest on the list with 30% and most people who chose this career tend to stay in this position for longer.
Applications architects are fourth, gaining a score of 70.3. Their job market is comparable to cloud architects but 77% of applications architects have only a bachelor’s degree, allowing easier transition to this career path.
Cyber-security engineers take fifth place in the ranking of the tech careers with the highest demand with a score of 64.4. They have the lowest unemployment rate in the list with 1.8%, just as system security managers. This career also has the lowest turnover rate in the ranking with only 22% of the people changing jobs after 1-2 years.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Integration Managers follow with sixth place and a similar score of 64. ERP managers have the highest projected job growth with 61%, four times more than IT directors. Similar to applications architects, over 70% in this career have only a bachelor’s degree.
Software engineers take seventh place, earning a score of 58.6. The starting salary for them is lower but the job market for software engineers is the second biggest with over 18.5K open positions. The unemployment rate for them is low at 2.1%.
Network security engineers are eighth, scoring 57.8. Another career with a large job market, it currently offers 11.8K jobs and the field is projected to grow 35% in the next few years.
Data security analysts hold the ninth place with a 56.4 score. They have the lowest starting salary on the list but keep the lowest unemployment rate of 1.8% together with cyber-security engineers. The turnover rates for this career path are the third-lowest in the list at 33%.
Network engineers close the ranking with tenth place and a score of 53.4. Their starting salary is similar to network security engineers but the job market is a little smaller with 9.9K vacancies.
A spokesperson from The Stock Dork commented on the study: “The tech market rapidly changes with development of new technologies and innovations. It’s important to pay attention to new career paths and regularly check up on the industry. Right now it is growing more than ever, while maintaining the low unemployment below the US average.”
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