Demand for IT jobs in 2014 has been tracking behind last year, according to WANTED Analytics data. This March, there were 5% fewer IT jobs advertised online than there were during March 2013. Despite being fewer IT jobs available, competition for tech talent continues to be intense. Considering this, we looked at which tech hot spots have the most demand and who you're competing with for talent in these areas. Below is a heat map of IT job volume throughout the US. Darker blue areas indicate locations with higher concentrations of job ads.

Heat Map of IT Job Volume - March 2014

In March 2014, Silicon Alley (New York, NY) had the highest demand for tech talent, with about 55,500 job ads, followed by the Silicon Valley cities combined, San Francisco and San Jose, CA. Silicon Hill (Washington, DC) was not far behind with about 50,650 job ads. Silicon Canal (Seattle, WA) and the Golden Corridor (Chicago, IL) round out the top 5 locations with the highest number of job ads posted online. Are you competing for IT talent in these locations? Below are the Silicon cities with the highest demand and the companies that advertised the most IT jobs in that respective metro area.

Employers with the Most IT Job Ads in the Cities with the Highest Demand

Only one company listed above, Amazon.com, is competing for talent in more than 1 of these markets. Otherwise, the employers with the most job ads in each location is unique to that area, many times relating to dominate industries in that city. For example, companies in the financial services industry are hiring IT talent in NY. Washington, DC (Silicon Hill) sees hiring from defense and homeland security contractors. With recruiting conditions for IT candidates remaining difficult, how can you compete with these companies for talent? One way to find talent is to look for candidates at national or local colleges and universities with the largest graduating classes. Below are the colleges or universities that have the highest number of candidates graduating that have a background in computer and information sciences in the New York (Silicon Alley) metro area.

Total Graduate Supply for IT Candidates in the New York Metro Area

Additionally, you can examine companies that have hired in the past 4 years for sources of potential candidates. Experienced qualified professionals are likely to be working at these companies and can be turned into passive candidates.