Tech spending to rise 4.6% in US in months ahead

A US research firm is predicting that American businesses will be spending more money on their tech staff, as the COVID-19 pandemic stokes demand for digital transformation in all economic sectors.

The research firm, Forrester, which recently released its tech spending estimates, argues that spending on technology employees may increase as much as 4.6 per cent this year and a further 5.4 per cent in 2022. In coming to its assessment, Forrester highlighted that it had taken into account all factors considered.

These include the number of employees, salary, bonus and incentives, which was factored on the way to calculating the employment cost for ‘teckies’ in the weeks and months to come. Many companies are offering exorbitant salaries to data scientists and professionals with expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Factors contributing to rise in planned tech staff spending

The talent shortage in the cyber security sector is also contributing to the surge in tech staff spending. Forrester expects tech spending in the United States to increase six per cent this year, predicting that outsourcing too will increase in volume.

Writing on his blog, Andrew Bartels, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester states, “We predicted that the US tech market would grow by 6.6 per cent in 2021 and 7.0 per cent in 2022. Spending on software will lead the expansion with 10 per cent growth in 2021 and 12 per cent in 2022.”

While the tech talent shortage does not seem to ease, it has been noted that industries hit hard by the pandemic, such as oil and gas, hospitality and entertainment have laid off a significant number of their tech employees.

Similarly, the rising rate of cyber-attacks and remote-working arrangements are stoking demand for cyber security experts.