Tech Industry Grew Last Year, but More Slowly

The nation's high-tech industry continued to add jobs in 2007, but at a slowing pace, according to a study released Wednesday by high-tech industry group AeA.

High-tech employment nationally rose by almost 2 percent, or 91,000 jobs last year, AeA found. The annual rise was the third straight, but was less than the 139,000 tech jobs created in 2006.

"The story (is) good, but not great," AeA President Christopher Hansen said in a statement. "While we are certainly pleased to report that the technology industry added jobs nationally and across nearly every state, national tech growth slowed in 2007."

Texas remained the No. 2 high-tech state in the country, at least based on 2006 figures, which AeA said were the latest available. Only California had more high-tech jobs than Texas.

Florida remained the No. 4 tech state in the country. Georgia was No. 12, Colorado was No. 14, Ohio was No. 15, and North Carolina was No. 16.

Matthew Kazmierczak, vice president of research for AeA, said the slowdown in job growth in 2007 was unexpected. While the poor economy will almost certainly take a toll on the high-tech sector this year, it shouldn't have affected the sector much in 2007, he said.

Indeed, part of the reason for the slowing growth of high-tech jobs, Kazmierczak said, could be that employers simply gave up on filling some jobs or creating new ones because they couldn't find enough qualified workers.

The unemployment rate for electrical engineers, for instance, is less than 1 percent, he said. For computer programmers, it's around 2.5 percent.

"We think there would have actually been more jobs created if there had been enough qualified workers to fill them," Kazmierczak said. "There are literally thousands of (high-tech) jobs going unfilled."

Among different types of tech jobs, the software industry grew the most last year, while high-tech manufacturing — led by a sharp decline in the semiconductor industry — had the steepest drop in jobs.

Jobs in the communications industry, which has been hurting for several years from telecom mergers and cutbacks, especially in areas like Atlanta, continued to decline last year, albeit at a slower pace. The number of communications services jobs lost nationally last year was about 7,200, a decrease from the 17,000 job cuts in the previous year and the 32,000 cuts in 2005.

High-tech jobs continue to be among the best-paying positions in the country, according to AeA.

Nationwide, high-tech jobs paid $79,500 annually on average, based on 2006 figures. By comparison, the average private-sector wage was $42,000, according to AeA.

TECH EMPLOYMENT BY THE NUMBERS

Based on 2007 national data

Total employment: 5.9 million

Growth 2006-2007: 91,400 jobs (1.6 percent)

Job growth/decline by sector:

Software services, +82,600 jobs

Engineering/tech services, +45,800 jobs

Communications, -7,200 jobs

Semiconductors, -12,500

Manufacturing, -29,800 jobs

Average tech industry wage: $79,500 (nationally)

Venture capital investments in high-tech: $16.9 billion (up 6 percent)

HIGH TECH INDUSTRY BY STATE

Based on 2006 data

Rank, state, Total tech jobs, percentage change 2005-2006, average annual tech industry wage

1. California, 940,700, +2 percent, $101,189

2. Texas, 459,500, +3 percent, $81,550

3. New York, 301,500, +0.5 percent, $80,933

4. Florida, 282,090, +2.1 percent, $64,413

5. Virginia, 270,750, +3.7 percent, $86,374

12. Georgia, 165,500, +2 percent, $75,923

14. Colorado, 157,200, -0.6 percent, $86,473

15. Ohio, 155,170, +1.8 percent, $63,473

16. North Carolina, 145,160, +2 percent, $72,270

Source: AeA