Plugged In
Stay plugged in to technology news. Cox staffers across the country and around the globe bring you breaking tech news and other high-tech tidbits and explain what it all means to you and your community -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Only with "Plugged In."RSS feed
What's on this page →
The entry titled "Florida may be a cyberstate but it doesn't pay well," and any of the comments about it.
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F
Recent entries
- On your next cell phone: How much will you spend
- After further review, IBM still tops in server revenue
- The Dare joins the iPhone 3G and the Instinct
- AT&T and the 3G iPhone by the numbers (service fees)
- Conjuring up some 'solar magic'
- Like a Virgin: Hip Helio is history
- Coming soon to the Internet: .(younameit)
- More entries...
Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2008 > April > 02 > Entry
Florida may be a cyberstate but it doesn’t pay well
It sounded great to hear that Florida ranks 4th in total high-tech jobs. But there’s a downside to the findings of the Cyberstates report put out this week by the AeA.
First, the state keeps losing manufacturing jobs. Remember in the Eighties, personal computers were made in Boca Raton. In the Nineties, pagers were produced in Boynton Beach.
Those factories have closed, and while IBM and Motorola still maintain a presence in South Florida, it’s not nearly as large.
The other glaring deficiency brought out in the report was wages. In Florida, the average is $64,400, 30th among states, while the national average is a whopping $79,500. That means high-powered technology development is done elsewhere — California, Massachusetts, New York and Texas.
The AeA is pushing for improvements in K through 12 education, a financial boost for the state’s university research programs and a way to attract more venture capital. The question is: Can any of that turn Florida into a high-tech powerhouse quickly?
Comments