2019 Report3rd Quarter
Fairfax / Falls Church: 65,479 (15.2% increase over 2018)
Regional Overview
This report delivers quarterly labor market information to NOVA faculty, staff, students, employers, and community partners to highlight regional employment trends. To ensure that northern Virginia businesses remain globally competitive and continue to create jobs, NOVA provides access to highly
skilled, credentialed, and diverse talent and defined career pathways for the region. NOVA’s Office of Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Innovation collaborates with employers, economic development organizations, education institutions, community-based organizations, and local governments in the northern Virginia region to address the skills gap and develop a robust talent pipeline.
The third quarter of 2019 continued an upward growth trend for job postings, which were up approximately 18.4% across the region over the same time-period in 2018, and increased 11.3% over Quarter 2 of 2019. All local jurisdictions in northern Virginia had an increase in the number of job postings from Quarter
2, as well as an increase over the same time-period in 2018. Job postings in both health care and cybersecurity increased as well in total number and as a percentage of total job postings. Notably, employer job postings increased the most in Loudoun and Prince William over the same quarter of 2018, with a 37.0% increase in Loudoun and a 25.5% increase in Prince William and Manassas. Job postings in health care and cybersecurity increased substantially as well over 2018, with a 51.5% increase in health care postings and 25.8% increase in cybersecurity postings. The job postings growth rate in Q3 of 2019 in the northern Virginia region of 18.4% outpaced the national job postings rate of 10.8% for the same time-period. The region remains the number one location for employers advertising positions in cybersecurity, with approximately 7.7% of all cybersecurity job postings nationwide coming from northern Virginia.
(51.5% increase over 2018) 7.4% of total job postings
Total Health Care 8,528
115,548(18.4% increase over 2018)
(25.8% increase over 2018) 9.5% of total job postings
Total Cybersecurity 10,995
Job Postings by Location
Alexandria City: 11,671 (15.9% increase over 2018)
Arlington: 20,143 (19.8% increase over 2018)
Loudoun: 10,265 (37.0% increase over 2018)
Prince William / Manassas: 7,990 (25.5% increase over 2018)
Top 10 Industries Hiring
Top 25 Companies Hiring
General Dynamics
3,486
Professional, Scientific, and
Technical Services
19,294
Perspecta
803
Public Administration
6,354
U.S. Government
544
CGI Group
328
SAIC
1,055
Manufacturing
7,429
Amazon
789
Accommodation and Food Services
5,523
Verizon Communications
461
George Mason University
362
Freddie Mac
304
Booz Allen Hamilton
1,576
Health Care and Social Assistance
10,121
Northrop Grumman
795
Administrative, Support, and
Waste Management
5,839
Accenture
526
Harris Teeter
362
Northern Virginia Community College
369
Sunrise Senior Living
310
Capital One
1,043
Retail Trade
6,987
ManTech International
616
Transportation and Warehousing
3,419
Marriott International
433
Jacobs Engineering Group
361
KPMG
303
Inova Health System
927
Finance and Insurance
6,631
Anthem Blue Cross
575
Information
3,055
Unisys
391
Raytheon
338
AECOM Technology
272
The top 25 companies advertised a combined 17,329 job postings during the quarter, comprising 15.0% of all job postings regionally. This represents a decrease in the market share of the top 25 employers with the most job postings, indicating a greater share of companies currently advertising for more
positions. General Dynamics remained the top employer by number of job postings from Q1 and Q2 of 2019. New company entries to the top 25 list this quarter included Jacobs Engineering, Sunrise Senior Living, KPMG, and AECOM Technology. Nearly all of the top 25 employers advertising open positions are in the government contracting and technology sectors, with a few exceptions in health care, retail, and hospitality. The top hiring industry continues to be professional, scientific, and technical services, which advertised 19,294 job postings for the quarter and currently employs approximately 276,000 workers, or 20.7%, of the regional workforce.
Top 25 Occupations Advertised This Quarter*1. Software Developers, Applications ............................................8,8052. Managers, All Other ......................................................................3,7433. Computer Systems Engineers and Architects ..............................3,5774. Information Security Analysts ....................................................3,0905. Retail Salespersons ........................................................................2,5736. Registered Nurses ......................................................................... 2,5457. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing ................2,4538. Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers ....................................... 2,4189. Management Analysts ..................................................................2,32510. Secretaries and Administrative Assistants ...................................1,83611. Human Resources Specialists ........................................................1,83412. Network and Computer Systems Administrators ...................... 1,69913. Computer Systems Analysts ........................................................1,64014. Customer Service Representatives ...............................................1,63815. Computer User Support Specialists .............................................. 1,59316. Information Technology Project Managers ..................................1,45817. Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers ............................................. 1,44718. Web Developers .............................................................................1,29819. Database Administrators .............................................................. 1,29320. Security Guards ................................................................................. 1,11121. Sales Managers ...............................................................................1,05122. Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers .....................1,03123. Accountants ..................................................................................1,00424. General and Operations Managers .................................................. 97825. Financial Analysts ............................................................................. 893
The unemployment rate decreased slightly to 2.2%, creating a tight labor market for employers looking for talent. This list highlights the top 25 occupations advertised by employers in the third quarter of 2019, categorized by their 8-digit O*NET title. The O*NET classification system is made up of 974 unique
occupations; these 25 occupations listed above accounted for 53,333 job postings, or 46.2% of all employer demand. Software developers continue to be the most in-demand occupation, with 8,805 postings in Quarter 3, an increase of 1,143 postings from Quarter 2. Eleven of the top 25 positions advertised are information technology-related occupations. The increase in job postings for retail positions, 862 positions greater than Quarter 2, may indicate a seasonal hiring trend and may not be indicative of the strength of the retail industry as a whole. The median salary of all advertised jobs was $65,794, which is lower than the median salary of $68,028 for jobs advertised during Quarter 2 of 2019. However, the average wages for northern Virginia workers increased 3.8% as a whole between the second quarters of 2018 and 2019.
Unemployment rate 2.2%
Job Growth, last 12 months
14,126
$65,794
*Requested by employers by number of job postings.
Total Jobs in the Region
1,335,219
Median Wage of Jobs Advertised
NOVA utilizes two labor market information research tools, JobsEQ by Chmura Economics, and Labor Insight by Burning Glass Technologies, to assist in our effort to provide real-time data on the region’s labor market. For more information, and to access our detailed interactive data platform, please
connect with us on social media or visit our website below:Facebook.com/NOVAWorkforce | @NOVAWorkforce and #NOVAWorkforce | www.nvcc.edu/lmi Contact: Alex Cooley, Labor Market Research Manager, [email protected]
1. Customer Service .......................................... 17,7512. Scheduling ................................................... 14,4473. Project Management ...................................11,2994. Budgeting .................................................... 10,3275. Sales ............................................................ 10,0916. Software Development .................................7,7397. Customer Contact ..........................................7,6618. Java .................................................................7,3369. SQL ..................................................................7,16810. Linux ..............................................................6,59911. Python ............................................................ 6,13712. Information Systems ....................................5,63813. Systems Engineering ..................................... 5,42214. General Repair ...............................................5,21415. Staff Management ........................................4,989
Top Specialized Skills*
1. Security Clearance ............................................................................................................................................. 17,0632. Driver's License ......................................................................................................................................................7,1853. CompTIA Security+ ...............................................................................................................................................2,9914. Project Management Certification (PMP) ...........................................................................................................2,8385. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) ............................................................................2,5666. Registered Nurse.................................................................................................................................................2,4007. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) ..............................................................................................................................2,2918. Commercial Driver’s License ................................................................................................................................ 2,1709. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) .........................................................................................................1,42810. SANS/GIAC Certification ..................................................................................................................................... 1,36811. First Aid / CPR / AED ............................................................................................................................................1,35412. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) ........................................................................................................................1,34113. Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) .......................................................................................................85714. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) ........................................................................................................ 76215. Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) ..................................................................................................... 688
Top Certifications*
1. Communication Skills ............................... 39,9232. Teamwork / Collaboration .......................20,9083. Writing ........................................................17,2894. Planning ....................................................... 17,1455. Problem Solving ........................................ 16,2706. Organizational Skills .................................16,0367. Research ..................................................... 15,7308. Microsoft Office ..........................................15,1939. Detail-Oriented ......................................... 14,78910. Written Communication ..............................11,17711. Physical Abilities ........................................10,62212. Troubleshooting ....................................... 10,08213. Creativity .................................................... 8,80314. Multi-Tasking ...............................................8,64515. Computer Literacy.......................................7,806
Top Baseline Skills*
*Requested by employers by number of job postings.