According to an announcement from the Nashville Technology Council last week, the number of vacant technology-related jobs remains high, but not as high as it has been. About 850 tech jobs were open locally on March 31, which was down 18 percent compared to numbers from the end of 2011.

Tennessee as a whole also showed a decrease (-10%) in open tech positions during the quarter to 1,269. The highest number of openings in Middle Tennessee this quarter came from the health care sector - Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Community Health Systems (CHS), Vanderbilt University, Emdeon, and HealthSpring.

“It’s not uncommon to see a small dip in IT openings in the 1st quarter of a given year as companies better define new projects. This decrease is especially true due to the strong hiring trend in 2011. The demand for technology professionals remains strong and the market is extremely competitive. The recruitment, development and growth of tech talent remain integral to the success of Middle Tennessee,” states John Kepley, Principal and CEO at teknetex. Mr. Kepley serves on the NTC Board of Directors and Co-Chairs NTC’s Technology Workforce and Education Committee.