The U.S. high-tech sector continued to lose jobs in 2004, but at a much slower pace than in 2003. That's the conclusion in Cyberstates 2005: A State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry report.
AeA (Santa Clara, CA and Washington, DC), the largest high-tech trade association in the U.S., issued the report.
“The good news is that the technology industry looks to have turned a corner,” said AeA's President and CEO, William T. Archey. “For the first time since 2000, both software services and engineering and tech services added jobs. Each of these tech sectors added over 30,000 net new jobs to the economy in 2004. This is especially positive news because tech jobs pay 84 percent more than the average private sector job.”
Here are some key state facts from the Cyberstates 2005 report:
Ø California (916,000), Texas (446,000), New York (305,000), Florida (259,000), and Virginia (244,000) lead the nation in total high-tech employment, including manufacturing, services, and software. Statewide figures are through 2003, the most recent year for which the data are available.
Ø Colorado led the nation in concentration of high-tech workers in 2003, with 91 high-tech workers per 1,000 private sector workers, followed by Virginia.
Ø Four states—Alaska, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, and Wyoming—added high-tech jobs between 2002 and 2003.
What's the best way for economic development directors to retain high-tech employers in these times?
“Directors should continue to do what they have done in the past,” said Matthew Kazmierczak, director of research at the AeA. “The technology industry is going to continue to need highly-skilled, highly qualified workers, and even today, those locations that have workers of that skill set are going to continue to be the ones that are going to command the market.”
See the accompanying chart for the Cyberstates 2005 ranking of states in high-tech manufacturing employment. For ordering information on the Cyberstates 2005 report, go to www.aeanet.org.
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