The number of tech jobs advertised in Middle Tennessee has gone down over the last few months. One official with the Nashville Technology Council says that’s partly because its efforts to recruit tech workers are “beginning to pay off.”
There were 728 advertised technology jobs in the region this past quarter – a 17 percent drop from earlier this year.
John Kepley serves on the tech council’s Board of Directors. He says outside the recruitment efforts, a lot of businesses are holding off until after November. Kepley says many “have the capital to pull the trigger and hire people” but are waiting to see what happens in this fall’s elections.
“Right today, again, I know of about 500 positions or more on top of that number just here in middle Tennessee that you go, wow, if they ever turn that spigot on… There’s a real need there but there are some companies sitting on the sidelines that are going we’re just going to wait and see.”
Kepley figures as Nashville builds a reputation as a place for tech jobs and lures more capable workers here, more tech companies could follow. Right now he says there’s a lack of “human capital.”
The tech council report says the bulk of the recent openings were in the healthcare sector, pointing to employers like HCA and Vanderbilt.
WPLN’s Jeriel Johnson contributed to this report.