Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA — October 2026
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre tech pay softens as Comcast cuts 634 jobs.
Metro unemployment held at 4.7% in July against Pennsylvania's 3.6% statewide rate, while Comcast Technology Center's WARN notice for 634 workers and a significant drop in local Network Engineer pay to $72,292 point to a metro labor market loosening faster than the state.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment (Scranton-WB): 4.7% — vs 3.6% PA statewide, lowest since 2023
- Comcast Technology Center WARN: 634 workers — Layoffs effective Dec. 31, 2026
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $72,292 — Down significantly vs $115,757 national, up moderately
- National tech layoffs YTD: 133,417 — Through Oct. 21, already exceeds all of 2025
Key takeaways
Comcast's 634-worker WARN notice is a sourcing event as well as a layoff.
Effective December 31, this filing puts a concentrated pool of telecom and infrastructure-adjacent talent into the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre market at a scale the metro rarely sees. Organizations with open network engineering or systems administration roles may find a short-term window to hire below current advertised medians.
Network Engineer pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Metro median advertised pay dropped significantly to $72,292 against a national median of $115,757 that is up moderately, a gap wide enough to signal the role has lost local pricing power even as national demand firms. Benchmarking this role against statewide or national medians alone will overstate what's needed to compete here.
Metro-state unemployment divergence complicates headcount timing.
Pennsylvania's 3.6% unemployment rate (lowest since 2023) masks a 4.7% metro rate in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, with Hazleton running as high as 7.5%. Treating state-level tightness as the local hiring signal risks overpaying for roles where metro supply is actually loosening.
Systems Administrator demand looks sturdier than the rest of infrastructure.
Metro advertised pay rose moderately to $86,257, tracking the national trend ($102,503, also up moderately) even as Network Engineer and Software Engineer pay fell locally. This divergence within infrastructure roles suggests on-prem and hybrid administration skills are holding value while networking-specific roles soften.
Median advertised pay by role — Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $120,551 | $121,342 | $144,910 | Significant increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $74,049 | $86,257 | $95,560 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $53,929 | $72,292 | $91,294 | Significant decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $107,334 | $122,247 | $156,000 | Significant decline | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,806 | $48,078 | $53,000 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $83,595 | $101,428 | $117,314 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $80,658 | $115,095 | $128,677 | Stable | $118,150 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in September, its lowest since 2023, while the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metro lagged at 4.7% in July with Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton submarkets running hotter still at 6.2% and 7.5%, pointing to labor supply loosening faster at the metro level than the state headline suggests. Comcast Technology Center's WARN filing for 634 workers effective December 31 lands directly in the metro's tech-adjacent labor pool, a scale of displacement this market has not absorbed in recent memory.
What it means
Divergence between a tightening state labor market and a looser metro market creates room to recruit locally displaced infrastructure and support talent at lower premiums than statewide postings suggest, particularly as the Comcast Technology Center reduction releases network, systems and support-adjacent skill sets into the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre pool. Metro advertised pay for Network Engineer ($72,292) and Software Engineer ($122,247) both moved down significantly this month even as national medians for both roles held stable or rose, widening the local discount and sharpening build-vs-buy math in favor of retaining or absorbing local talent over competing in national remote-hire markets. Consider reviewing whether the Comcast displacement timeline (effective December 31) aligns with Q1 2027 headcount plans for infrastructure or network roles.
Looking ahead
Expected: Comcast Technology Center's 634 layoffs take effect December 31 — watch whether released talent appears in local applicant pools for network, systems or support roles in January, and whether advertised pay for those roles compresses further.
Worth watching: Metro Software Engineer pay fell significantly to $122,247 while the national median held at $154,403. Track whether this gap widens further or stabilizes, since it shapes whether local engineering roles can be filled without remote-market premiums.
Emerging pressure point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 for 2026 through October 21, with data center and infrastructure hiring offsetting losses in traditional tech hubs. Watch whether Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's logistics-heavy economy attracts any of this infrastructure buildout.
Early indicator: Luzerne County unemployment sat at 5.2% in August against a statewide 3.6% in September — a gap worth monitoring monthly, since continued widening would suggest metro-specific softening independent of state or national trends.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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