the TOP 10 hottest IT Jobs in 2023

IT job demand in 2023 is clustering around roles that combine customer-facing skills with technical depth—especially early-career help desk work and networking. The clearest standout is help desk technician, which posted a 6.9% increase and an average salary of about $55,000 a year, making it both one of the fastest-growing entry points and a surprisingly strong paycheck for a role that doesn’t require years of experience.

The help desk track is framed as a career foundation rather than a dead end. Strong customer service is treated as the primary differentiator because help desk staff are the first point of contact when users call in, setting the tone for the entire IT department. Troubleshooting ability and a basic IT skill foundation are also emphasized, with certifications positioned as a practical way to get hired. A+ is highlighted as the first certification to pursue, with IT Pro from aCloud/CI Learning promoted as training support and a discount code offered.

From there, the list broadens into higher-paying specialties that still reward communication and problem-solving. Project management lands as the next major growth lane, rising 15.6% with an average salary around $120,000. The role is described as planning, executing, and delivering IT projects on time and on budget, often through stakeholder management and constant tradeoffs. CompTIA’s Project+ is recommended as a starting certification, while PMP is portrayed as the “gold standard” that typically requires documented experience (or a degree plus training).

Systems engineering and systems administration remain hot as well, with a 7.5% salary increase and an average of roughly $120,000. The umbrella term covers many paths—VMware, cloud, Linux, and more—so the transcript stresses tailoring certifications to the target environment (for example, Azure administrator credentials, Google Cloud associate credentials, AWS certified Solutions Architect Associate, and Linux-focused certs). Customer service and interpersonal skills show up again as recurring hiring criteria, even for technical roles.

Cybersecurity engineer is positioned as an advanced step up with a 7.7% salary increase and an average near $145,000. The pathway is described as building from earlier IT foundations—help desk, system administration, Linux/Windows, and cloud—before moving into red team or blue team work. Specific certifications are suggested across both offensive and defensive tracks, including EJPT and CPTS (Hack The Box) for entry points and OSCP for deeper penetration testing credibility.

DevOps engineer is called a “unicorn” role, combining programming and system administration, with a 14.1% increase and an average salary around $136,000. Management roles then dominate the upper end: MIS/IT manager averages about $132,000 with a 10.8% increase, while C-suite-level roles (CTO/CIO and similar) average roughly $164,000 with 8.4% growth, with the transcript stressing leadership, vision, budget responsibility, and accountability.

Two additional roles round out the top 10: application support engineer (6.3% growth, about $96,000) and program analyst/program manager (12.9% growth, about $139,000). The biggest surprise for many is network engineer at #10—despite claims that networking is “dying,” it shows 6.1% growth and about $99,000 average salary. Cisco CCNA is presented as the key credential to enter junior network administration, with examples of job requirements expanding into automation and advanced networking concepts like SD-WAN and SD access.