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Merger and acquisition deals are on the rise as a shortage of information-technology workers leads companies to purchase firms for their employees, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).

Information technology jobs unfilled: An analysis of Labor Department employment data found employers last month posted about 340,000 unfilled job openings, 11% higher than the 12-month average.

Increase in IT mergers and acquisitions: “Hampleton Partners, a London-based M&A advisory firm, tracked 902 M&A deals in the global IT and business-services sector last year, a 10% increase from 2020. The pace of dealmaking increased in the second half of 2021, jumping 23%, compared to the same period a year earlier, the firm said.”

A shift in strategy: M&A has long been used as a growth or competition strategy, but now, with the shortage of IT workers, companies are employing M&A for talent acquisition purposes.

Tech employment growth continues: U.S. tech companies added 24,300 workers in January, representing the 14th consecutive month of tech employment growth. IT jobs in the entire U.S. economy increased by 178,000.