As retail stores close, these retail jobs are booming

Madeline Purdue

USA TODAY

The retail industry has offered the most software-related jobs in the last five years, according to a study published on Wednesday by Glassdoor.

Your next software job could be in retail, says a new study published Wednesday by Glassdoor.

The website used to hire employees and find jobs reviewed information from job postings on its website from the last five years to see what industries and cities are offering the most software-related jobs. Each industry and city had to have over 100 job postings with "software" in the title to be considered in the study.

It found the retail industry gained the most in share of software job postings, increasing 7.5 percentage points since 2012 to 13.9% this year. Glassdoor attributes the rise of software-related jobs to the online retail trend driven by Amazon and Walmart.

These industries have been offering software jobs increasingly over the last five years.

Banking and financial services came in second, gaining 2 percentage points on the need for software engineers and developers in online payments, electronic trading and mobile banking apps. The manufacturing industry's growth in share of software job postings was third, gaining 1.7 percentage points.

"As the beleaguered U.S. manufacturing sector has struggled, employers have made a push to become leaner and more technologically savvy, requiring a ramp-up of tech hiring," says the study.

Other industries have declined in the relative portion of software-related jobs they post, including the computer software and hardware industry. Its share of software job postings shrank 10.5 percentage points in the last five years, to 25%.

Glassdoor chief economist Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, who conducted the study, said other industries are hiring more software-related employees while the technology industry hiring is flat.

"It is not necessarily that they're hiring less software engineers," said Chamberlain. "What has happened as other sectors are hiring more, their share of postings has declined."

These industries have been offering less software jobs in the last five years.

The study also says that these software-related jobs are starting to move outside of Silicon Valley, the major U.S. tech hub, and into other cities. Seattle, Washington D.C. and Detroit are at the top of the list of the cities offering more software jobs.

San Jose's share of software-related jobs has narrowed 7.7 percentage points since 2012, to 8.1%.

Software-related jobs have been moving to these cities.

Software-related jobs have been offered less in these cities over the last five years.

The move to other cities can be attributed to lower cost of living and convenience, as most of these software jobs only require the use of a computer and can be done anywhere. Chamberlain said these companies are also looking to move to cities where there are universities to hire from.

"As living costs in San Jose and the Silicon Valley area have risen, companies have started to look outside Silicon Valley and California, where they can set up shop and attract talent."

According to PayScale, the cost of living in San Jose is 48% higher than the national average, and housing expenses are 148% more expensive than the national average. The cost of living in Seattle is slightly less expensive at 45% above the national average, and in Detroit, it is 5% less than the national average.

"When start-ups and existing tech companies are looking for where to open new offices, they're looking more broadly across the United States," said Chamberlain. "Although not cheap, [these cities] are less expensive than Silicon Valley."

Follow USA Today's Madeline Purdue on Twitter, @madelinepurdue.

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