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While the number of open tech jobs took a hit in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some labor economists and tech recruiters are expecting a surge in hiring in the field in 2021.听

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The U.S. tech industry posted the third-largest decrease in job postings among all sectors, according to data, but the COVID-19 vaccine and savings accrued by individuals and companies because of remote work could lead to robust hiring demand next year.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very bullish on hiring in 2021, particularly in tech,鈥� said , a labor economist at ZipRecruiter. 鈥淭here are lots of reasons to be very, very optimistic about what鈥檚 going to happen in tech. One is that obviously the vaccine news is the big reason鈥攖here鈥檚 sort of an end to the pandemic in sight now.鈥澛�

Americans who have saved money staying home during the pandemic are poised to spend more once it’s over. Additionally, many large employers, like , to lower-cost areas or taken steps to make remote work more permanent, as was the case with , which paid $90 million to .听

Shedding real estate typically leads to cost savings for companies, which in turn frees up dollars to hire more employees and grow, Pollak said.

Growth ahead

, CEO of , which owns tech job database Dice, also expressed optimism for tech hiring in 2021. Zeile said he expects a surge in interest in technologists once the pandemic is over.

鈥淲e believe that there will be a post-pandemic explosion of interest in technologists, and that includes within startups, with so many focusing on technological innovation,鈥� Zeile said via email.

Zeile pointed to a from this year that estimated the total number of 鈥渢echnology-oriented鈥� jobs would increase from 41 million in 2020 to 190 million in 2025.

The rosy outlook for 2021 is a far cry from where things were for tech hiring after February 2020.

While tech is one of the industries in which employees can work from home, job opportunities this year haven鈥檛 necessarily been up, according to Pollak.

鈥淭ech is actually the industry with one of the largest declines in job postings and that鈥檚 perhaps surprising because with so many in-person brick-and-mortar types of industries on pause, one would think the internet would be taking over, and in many ways it is,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think what this reflects is that many people who are able to work remotely and are continuing to have their jobs are no longer looking for new jobs the same way they were before the pandemic.鈥澛�

According to ZipRecruiter data, the average count of U.S. tech job openings fell from just over 1 million in February to 497,225 in June. The figure rose to 793,852 in November.听

Pre-COVID-19, more people employed in tech were 鈥渏ob hopping鈥� because they were optimistic, according to Pollak. Now, the quit rate at tech companies has gone down, leading to fewer job postings.听

鈥淧eople who have jobs are staying put because it鈥檚 hard to do this whole onboarding thing during the pandemic when you鈥檙e not going to the office,鈥� she said.

Despite that, there鈥檚 huge interest in the jobs that are available, according to Pollak. ZipRecruiter has seen a 鈥渧ery high鈥� number of applications per tech job posting.听

Filling a remote need

Remote work, however, has caused demand for certain tech jobs, according to Dice. Network engineers, for example, ranked third for tech job postings in the third quarter of 2020, according to Dice鈥檚 most recent

鈥淚n order to build, maintain, and secure these broadly dispersed networks of employees, companies need to hire network engineers and systems engineers, which may explain their high rank in Q3,鈥� the report read. 鈥淚f the nature of work looks fundamentally different in coming years, it will likely be in part because these innovative technologists figured out how to build out the necessary infrastructure.鈥�

But shifting to a fully remote or hybrid model doesn鈥檛 always mean employees retain the same perks they had in the office. Some companies that are fully remote, like San Francisco-based , offer location-agnostic salaries, where employees in the same role make the same amount regardless of where they live. Other companies, including large tech companies like , employees who relocate to lower-cost areas to work remotely will have their salaries adjusted (read: reduced).

According to Dice鈥檚 data, California and Texas topped the list of states leading tech hiring in 2020 Q3. California had 124,000 job postings鈥攎ore than double Texas鈥� 54,000 job postings–with established tech hubs like San Francisco, Sunnyvale and Los Angeles leading the state for tech job postings. What鈥檚 more surprising, though, is that Florida and Georgia鈥攏ot necessarily known as tech hubs鈥攕aw their state rankings for tech job postings jump in Q3. Florida moved up one spot to be ranked No. 5 and Georgia jumped five spots quarter over quarter to be ranked No. 8.

Home: the new workplace

Some companies have already taken steps toward permanently working remotely.

After Arizona-based startup executed its virtual company retreat successfully, CEO realized that even when things go back to 鈥渘ormal鈥� post-COVID-19, the world still won鈥檛 be the same.听

鈥淚f we can do everything, month after month of growth and productivity, and we can even do a company event fully remote, I think this (remote work) can work and it鈥檚 only going to get better if we can meet in person a couple times a year,鈥� Ronzio said.

The company made the decision to open up hiring to talent located outside of the Scottsdale, Arizona, area where Trainual is based, without the expectation that out-of-state hires would ever relocate. Trainual gave up its office in May and instead opened a 4,000-square-foot 鈥渃ompany hub鈥� in Scottsdale where employees can come and go if they need a place to work. The company now has employees in states including Pennsylvania, Tennessee and New Jersey.

Trainual鈥檚 adjustments are just one example of how startups and tech companies are adapting their hiring practices with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. that it would move to being 鈥渧irtual first鈥� and open 鈥淒ropbox Studios,鈥� or spaces in cities where Dropbox currently has offices for employees to work should they choose to do so. Facebook CEO said in May that the company would 鈥渁ggressively鈥� speed up remote hiring, reported.

According to ZipRecruiter鈥檚 Pollak, employers are being more 鈥渁dventurous鈥� with remote hiring, and it could be here to stay.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a major reason why a lot of this move (to remote work) will be permanent,鈥� Pollak said. 鈥淐ompanies will see the benefit of expanding the talent pool is huge.鈥�

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