Job prospects Technical Support Specialist – Information Technology (IT) in Ontario

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "technical support specialist – information technology (IT)" in Ontario or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Ontario

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be moderate for User support technicians (NOC 22221) in Ontario for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What Types of Employers Are Out There?

• All major sectors of the economy, but the leading share is in computer systems design and related services
• Telecommunication carriers
• Business support services, including call centres
• Public administration, especially the federal government

 

What are the Main Trends Affecting Employment?

• Digital changes occurring in many business operations
• Prevalence of smart devices in households should lead to opportunities to provide technical support
• Some opportunities are expected from third-party providers of help desk support, including cloud-based services
• However, the growing use of self-service chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) could negatively affect the number of entry-level positions

 

What Skills Do I Need To Succeed?

• User support technicians provide various levels of assistance, from the basic Tier 1 help desk function, to the more advanced Tier 3 level, which may affect the skill requirements of advertised positions
• Two voluntary skilled trades are associated with this occupation in Ontario, namely, Information Technology (IT): Contact Centre Technical Support Agent, and Hardware Technician.

Here are some key facts about User support technicians in Ontario:

• Approximately 50,000 people work in this occupation.
• User support technicians mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Computer systems design services (NAICS 5415): 28%
  • Information and cultural industries (NAICS 51): 10%
  • Management and administrative services (NAICS 55, 56): 9%
  • Monetary Authorities - central bank and securities, commodity contracts and other intermediation and related activities (NAICS 521, 522, 523): 7%
  • Federal government public administration (NAICS 911): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 91% compared to 81% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 9% compared to 19% for all occupations
• 75% of user support technicians work all year, while 25% work only part of the year, compared to 63% and 37% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 45 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of user support technicians are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 71% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 28% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 19% compared to 25% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 34% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 31% compared to 24% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 11% compared to 13% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Ontario by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "technical support specialist – information technology (IT)" User support technicians (NOC 22221) or across Canada.

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