Welcome | Sign In
ECommerceTimes.com
Technology

Report Signals U.S. High-Tech Employment Boom

Print Version
E-Mail Article
Reprints
Report Signals U.S. High-Tech Employment Boom

Tech employment opportunities haven't been better since the high-flying days of the dot-com era, suggests a new report from nonprofit trade group AeA. Both in terms of the number of tech jobs added and the average salaries paid, the high-tech sector is decidedly on a roll.


eMarketer Whitepaper: Optimizing the E-Commerce Experience
From the Web to the Contact Center, are you prepared to proactively engage and keep your savvy customers? Read how e-commerce leaders are optimizing their sites with ratings, reviews, live help, Web analytics, mobile and more.

In 2006, the U.S. high-tech sector employed 5.8 million people -- up by 146,600, or 3 percent -- according to a widely watched report on the subject from AeA, a nationwide nonprofit trade association.

Not since the dot-com heyday in 2000 has the U.S. tech job environment looked so inviting, according to "Cyberstates 2007: A Complete State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry," which covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

"There still 800,000 jobs missing from that era," Matthew Kazmierczak, report author and vice president of research, told the E-Commerce Times. "However, many people maintain those numbers were unsustainable and others were not truly IT-related."

Other promising signs in this year's report: Unlike earlier years, when only a handful of states actually added tech jobs, a whopping 40 states added such employment.

"It is a big turnaround for the nation as a whole," Kazmierczak said.

The states that have not joined the trend are those that were disproportionately affected by the telecom bust and still have not developed a counterweight industry to compensate, he added.

Due West

It comes as little surprise that California stood out in the study, adding 14,400 net jobs -- a 2 percent increase -- for a total of 919,300 in 2005, the most recent year numbers were available for the state. Computer systems design and related services and engineering services were the leading sectors.

Another high-tech hotspot in 2005 was the Washington, D.C., area. Northern Virginia had the highest concentration of tech workers in the country that year, the report found, making it the fastest-growing state in terms of adding tech workers.

High-tech employees in this region are well compensated: Virginia's average annual high-tech wage is US$83,600 -- 99 percent more than its average private sector wage. D.C.'s average high-tech wage is $80,100 -- 30 percent more than the district's average private sector wage. Maryland's average high-tech wage is $77,000 -- 80 percent more than the state's average private sector wage.

Tech-Centric South

Florida was the second-fastest-growing state in terms of high-tech jobs, with employment in the industry jumping by 6,700, for a total of 265,500 positions in 2004, the latest year for which state data was available.

"Florida did well in last year's report too," Kazmierczak noted. "It is a bit unusual, because it is not thought of as a tech-centric state."

Tech industry workers earn 71 percent more than the average private sector worker in Florida, according to the AeA.


Print Version E-Mail Article Reprints More by Erika Morphy


More by Erika Morphy

Ballmer Gives Shareholders - and Dell - Cause for Optimism
November 20, 2009
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was all smiles at the company's shareholders meeting, as he touted the early success of Windows 7. Ballmer's cheer may have been contagious; after posting a massive earnings decline for the third quarter, Dell needed some good news to latch onto, and the prospect of broad enterprise adoption of Windows 7 could spur PC sales.
AA.com Sucks the Fun Out of Trip-Planning
November 20, 2009
Using AA.com to book a flight was a painful experience. Densely packed, disorganized information was displayed in an unattractive format. On the plus side, it did seem as though the deals American Airlines advertised were real and not mere bait-and-switch lures. For anyone who wants a travel-planning Web site to inject a little pleasure into the experience, though, I say look elsewhere.
Salesforce.com Pumps Up Volume of Workplace Chatter
November 19, 2009
Salesforce.com has developed a collaboration platform that puts social networking to work. Salesforce Chatter facilitates employee collaboration on projects through Facebook-like profiles, status updates, feeds and groups. The question remains whether employees will be as open to social networking in the workplace as they are in their personal lives.
Don't miss a story -- sign up for our FREE e-mail newsletters and view the latest headlines at a glance.
Tech News Flash [ View Sample ]
E-Commerce Minute [ View Sample ]
ECT News Network Weekly Newsletter [ View Sample ]
Shortcuts
ECT News Network Information
Reader Services
Corporate
ECT News Network