A new tech jobs report ranked the Houston metro area the second-best in the nation when it came to the amount of new jobs posted.
The national trade association Computing Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA, found that employers in the Bayou City posted 5,255 new jobs in April, an increase of 529 from March. That increase is only behind Dallas, which saw 875 new tech jobs for a total of 12,479.
In terms of overall job postings in April, Houston ranked No. 13, ahead of Austin, San Diego and Denver but well behind the top five metro areas: Washington, D.C.; New York City; Dallas; Los Angeles; and Chicago. Meanwhile, CompTIA ranked Texas the No. 2 state for overall job postings last month, with 26,780.
Other findings from CompTIA reflected industry-wide changes including an increased focus on artificial intelligence. Texas ranked No. 2 in the nation for AI job postings in April, with 1,532.
While monthly remote tech-job postings nationwide declined toward the end of 2022, postings at the beginning of 2023 climbed back over the 50,000 mark, the report said.
CompTIA’s Houston-specific findings parallel other reports made by organizations such as Dice, which found in its 2022 report that Houston led metro areas including Orlando, Florida; Detroit; and Miami in year-over-year job posting growth. In its 2023 Tech Salary Report, Dice ranked Houston 18th in the nation for average tech salary, ahead of Dallas-Fort Worth but behind Austin. Houston’s average annual tech salary is $113,985, the report found.
Several factors contributing to Houston’s growing tech workforce include the presence of a developing startup ecosystem. Houston's so-called "innovation corridor," which runs from downtown to the Texas Medical Center, was noted in Dice’s report as a point in the city’s favor. Although no specific incubators were named, the report named the Texas Medical Center — with plans to open the 500-acre BioPort campus — and Rice University as draws.
Since 2019, Houston has seen the launch of the Ion, a 300,000-square-foot innovation hub on Main Street; multiple locations of The Cannon, an accelerator hub; and the Houston location of Boston-based climate incubator Greentown Labs. Areas outside of the city limits have seen growth in innovation hubs, with The Cannon opening its first location in Montgomery County and a group of incubator hubs partnering with the Fort Bend Economic Development Council to create the Fort Bend Innovation Council.
2022 saw a series of mass layoffs from tech companies including Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq: META) and Twitter Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTR). Houston was not untouched, with HBJ Fast 100 honoree Liongard cutting an unspecified amount of jobs last year. Liongard named a new CEO, Michelle Accardi, last month.
Houston Business Journal research found the largest local tech company by revenue is Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE), which reported $27.78 billion in 2021 revenue and had 62,252 employees.
