The Technology Council of North Dakota (TechND) recently released its biennial publication, the 2021 State of the Technology. It reveals that more than 7,500 new and replacement technology workers across all industries, including agriculture, energy, healthcare, and finance, will be needed in North Dakota by 2028. Demand for technology positions will create the need for 900 employees to fill new positions. The remaining positions will be replacements.
“North Dakota’s demand for technology professionals has never been greater. Those needs have only been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic as remote work and education have become commonplace. North Dakota’s businesses have been the driving force in creating solutions to the ever-changing challenges faced by our world today,” says TechND President Justin Forde, Senior Director of Government Relations at Midco. “As we look ahead to the future, it is clear that North Dakota’s success is tied to the success of our technology workforce.”
There currently are 7,620 North Dakotans in technology positions, and this projected growth means replacement combined with new positions will equal 99 percent of the state’s current technology workforce. These are professional, high-paying jobs with an average annual wage of $66,113, which is 27 percent higher than the state average.
Information security analysts is the technology occupation with the highest percentage of projected growth (29.2 percent). Software developers/software quality assurance analysts (19.3 percent) and computer network architects (12.4 percent) are the technology occupations with the second and third highest percentage of projected growth. Through 2028, the three technology occupations projected to have the largest number of openings include computer user support specialists with 1,751 openings; software developers/software quality assurance analysts and testers with 1,566 openings; and computer occupations, other, with 842 openings.
View the complete publication here.
Included is additional information on the state’s technology sector in the areas of infrastructure, workforce, trends, competitiveness, and economic impact.
