Computer Occupations 2013: Winners & Losers

Winners and losers in the Computer-occupations for May 2013 from the BLS, Occupational Employment Statistics.  The overall employment level growth for the period was, 116,620.  In comparison, Employment growth for the prior year was 143,890  (May 2011 to May 2012).

					Educational Requirement
Occupation code	Occupation title	Level	Employment 2013	Employment 2012	Associate	Bachelor	Postgrad
15-1100	Computer Occupations	minor	3,573,120	3,456,500	22,620	94,500	-500
15-1111	Computer and Information Research Scientists	detail	24,380	24,880			-500
15-1120	Computer and Information Analysts	broad	585,120
15-1121	Computer Systems Analysts	detail	507,100	482,040		25,060
15-1122	Information Security Analysts	detail	78,020	72,670		5,350
15-1130	Software Developers and Programmers	broad	1,442,500
15-1131	Computer Programmers	detail	312,340	316,790		-4,450
15-1132	Software Developers, Applications	detail	643,830	586,340		57,490
15-1133	Software Developers, Systems Software	detail	373,510	391,700		-18,190
15-1134	Web Developers	detail	112,820	102,940	9,880
15-1140	Database and Systems Administrators and Network Architects	broad	618,480
15-1141	Database Administrators	detail	114,910	111,590		3,320
15-1142	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	detail	362,310	350,320		11,990
15-1143	Computer Network Architects	detail	141,270	137,890		3,380
15-1150	Computer Support Specialists	broad	706,360
15-1151	Computer User Support Specialists	detail	541,250	525,630	15,620
15-1152	Computer Network Support Specialists	detail	165,100	167,980	-2,880
15-1199	Computer Occupations, All Other	detail	196,280	185,730		10,550
					22,620	94,500	-500

The May 2013 Occupational Employment Statistics data were released on April 1, 2014 and are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

As of this writing, the 2013 H-1B Characteristics report has not been published.

However, the FY 2012, H-1B Characteristics Report shows:

• Computer-related occupations, Initial Employment Approvals FY 2012 = 83,444
• Computer-related occupations,  Continuing Employment Approvals FY 2012 = 71,425

The H-1B initial approvals were 57.99% of employment growth for 2012. If the H-1B numbers for FY 2013 come in similar to FY 2012, the H-1B share of employment growth will be 71.55%
Looking a bit closer at the table below, the H-1B visa is for positions that require a Bachelors degree or above, in theory only 94,000 of the this employment growth should be eligible to the H-1B visa program.



The following Chart shows year by year growth levels from 2010 to 2012.  Computer Occupation employment growth for the period was 241,630 and H-1B initial employment approvals (3 year) was 166,675 (69%).  When isolating just the year 2010, we see that 39,350 jobholders lost their positions to the recession and another 31,661 lost their positions to new H-1B approvals.