Rebooting Jobs

How Computer Science Skills Spread in the Job Market

Even in jobs that aren’t traditional computing jobs, employers are seeking computer science skills from applicants. In this report prepared for Oracle Academy, we examine how computer science skills are in demand for jobs where a Computer Science degree is not a requirement.

This report focuses on the following five job areas where these skills are in strong or growing demand.

• Data Analysis
• Engineering and Manufacturing
• Design
• Marketing
• Programming and Information Technology

Two-thirds of the fastest-growing and highest-paying skills in these fields are computer science skills

The overwhelming majority of the highest-paying and fastest-growing skills in these job categories are computer science related. Overall, 65% of the fastest-growing and 62% of the highest-paying skills in these fields are computer science related. Clearly, the pathway to the best opportunities is through the development of computer science knowledge.

Only 18% of these jobs specifically request a computer science degree

While many employers are looking for workers with strong computer science skills, they are not necessarily looking only at job seekers with computer science degrees. Only 18% of jobs in the categories listed above specifically request a computer science degree. (Most postings do request a bachelor’s degree generally or a degree in another major.) Programming and data analysis jobs are the only categories that have significant demand for computer science degrees. For all other categories, fewer than 5% of postings request a computer science degree.[1] This means that students in a broad range of education programs can enhance their job market value by including computer science in their education pathways.

[1] A total 26% of job postings list another major and 66% do not request any specific major.