{"schema_version": 1, "id": "philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 289, "label": "Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA", "slug": "philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:31:33.181738+00:00", "headline": "Philadelphia tech hiring stalls while statewide labor market tightens.", "headline_summary": "Pennsylvania's unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in September, its lowest since 2023, even as Philadelphia's information sector employment dropped 7.9% and Comcast's 634-worker WARN filing signals fresh technology talent entering the local market in December.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "PA unemployment rate", "value": "3.6%", "context": "Lowest since Sept. 2023; down from 4.4% a year ago"}, {"label": "Metro information sector employment", "value": "-7.9%", "context": "Year-over-year change through June 2026"}, {"label": "Comcast WARN filing", "value": "634 workers", "context": "Layoff effective Dec. 31, 2026"}, {"label": "National tech layoffs (YTD)", "value": "133,417", "context": "Across 325 companies through Oct. 21, 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Comcast's layoff could reset local hiring leverage.", "body": "A 634-worker WARN filing effective December 31 introduces a concentrated pool of telecom and technology talent into a metro where information sector employment has already contracted 7.9% year-over-year. Hiring managers filling infrastructure, network, or support roles may find faster time-to-fill and less upward pay pressure through Q1 if this talent enters active search."}, {"headline": "Systems Administrator pay is diverging from the national trend.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Systems Administrators sits at $97,651 against a national median of $102,503 that is trending up, a gap that appears to reflect Philadelphia's weaker professional and business services growth more than a shortage of candidates. Organizations anchoring offers to national data risk overpaying relative to what the local market is actually clearing at."}, {"headline": "Network Engineer demand is holding despite sector contraction.", "body": "Network Engineer advertised pay rose to $115,555 locally, tracking the national median of $115,757, even as broader information sector employment shrank. This divergence is consistent with continued infrastructure and data center-linked hiring nationally translating into resilient demand for networking skills regardless of metro-level softness elsewhere in tech."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay gains signal a retention decision.", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay climbed to $103,415 locally, moving with a national median up to $107,327, against a backdrop where 60% of tech leaders cite security skills shortages as a project risk. Flat headcount budgets paired with rising advertised pay for this role suggest internal retention of existing security staff may be more cost-effective than replacing departures through external search, and the pay trend also reflects broader market conditions for security talent."}], "local_conditions": "Philadelphia metro employment held roughly flat over the past year even as the nation added jobs, with information sector employment down 7.9% through June 2026 and professional and business services growth stuck near zero since 2022. Pennsylvania's statewide unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in September, its lowest since 2023, creating a split market where overall labor supply tightens even as the region's technology and information employment base contracts.", "implications": "Flat-to-declining information sector headcount alongside a tightening statewide labor pool suggests Philadelphia IT leaders are competing for a shrinking local technical candidate base while overall hiring friction rises across other sectors drawing from the same workforce. Comcast's WARN filing for 634 workers effective December 31 adds a near-term supply of technology talent to the regional market, a dynamic worth watching against advertised pay that remains stable-to-up across most IT roles despite national headcount reductions. Consider reviewing whether Comcast's release timing creates an opportunity to recruit experienced infrastructure, network, or support talent at Philadelphia advertised pay levels before defaulting to a national search.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Track whether Comcast's December 31 layoff of 634 workers produces a measurable uptick in regional candidate supply for network, infrastructure, and support roles, and whether advertised pay for those roles softens in response."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Philadelphia's information sector employment has fallen 7.9% year-over-year through June; a continuation of that trend into Q4 data would reinforce a build-vs-buy case for routing more infrastructure and support work to contract staffing or offshore centers."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Pennsylvania's unemployment rate at 3.6%, its lowest since 2023, is tightening the broader labor pool even as tech-specific employment softens locally \u2014 watch whether this pulls non-tech employers into bidding for adjacent technical talent such as help desk and support staff."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National data shows 133,417 tech layoffs through October against a 9-10% premium IT leaders are paying for AI and specialized infrastructure talent. Watch whether Philadelphia employers follow this bifurcation by cutting generalist roles while continuing to raise pay for cloud and security specialists."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 120001.0, "metro_p50": 149400.0, "metro_p75": 166691.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 80533.0, "metro_p50": 97651.0, "metro_p75": 112542.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 77000.0, "metro_p50": 115555.0, "metro_p75": 130183.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 112586.0, "metro_p50": 144012.0, "metro_p75": 159811.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43681.0, "metro_p50": 54722.2, "metro_p75": 59498.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 88263.0, "metro_p50": 103415.0, "metro_p75": 117314.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 107327.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 90000.0, "metro_p50": 121250.8, "metro_p75": 131086.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:28:12.189386+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/philadelphia-camden-wilmington-pa-nj-de-md-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}