Diverging Trends: U.S. Tech Software Job Growth vs. Tech Hardware Decline

Employment in the U.S. tech software sector—including software publishing, media streaming, social networks, computing infrastructure, data processing, web hosting, web search portals, and computer systems design—grew at an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% from 1990 to 2024. In contrast, employment in the hardware tech sector—including computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, communications equipment, and semiconductor manufacturing—declined by nearly half between 1990 and the 2010s and has remained stable through 2024.