Mayfair in Tampa Palms

The Growth of Florida Tech Jobs

May 04, 2006

Friends:

I thought this was an interesting article regarding the growth of Florida tech jobs and wanted to pass it along.

Tech job gains, outlook could fuel homebuying

WASHINGTON -- May 3, 2006-- Job growth and increased exports are signs of a turnaround in the high-tech industry, according to Cyberstates 2006, an annual review of the high-tech industry published by AeA, a national trade association that represents all segments of the technology industry.

The report also shows which states are gaining jobs. Traditionally, job growth has spawned more home buying.

After two years of job losses, tech employment was up 1 percent in 2005 from 2004 with 61,000 new jobs. Virginia and Florida added the most jobs. "Tech is slowly turning the corner from the nationwide technology downturn," says Sue Dark, CEO of DeepNines Technology and Chairman of the AeA Texas Council.

The report looks at high-tech employment, wages, payroll and international trade at the national and state level. Most tech professions gained jobs, with some, such as electrical engineering, reporting the lowest unemployment rate in three years.

Industries with the most growth were engineering and tech services, up 4 percent, and software services, up 3.1 percent. Even the high-tech manufacturing industry gained 3,300 jobs, up 0.3 percent -- and the first job increase since the tech bubble burst in 2000. The only sector to lose jobs was communications technology services, for which employment fell 3 percent, representing a loss of 42,600 jobs.



At the state level, the overall report is mixed with 25 states reporting a net job increase. Virginia led the nation in tech jobs, adding 9,100 jobs. Florida was the second fastest-growing state with a net increase of 6,700 jobs.



Some 35 states also saw electronics exports increase in 2005. Vermont and New Mexico had the highest concentration of technology exports, representing 84 percent and 77 percent of total exports from these states, respectively.

William T. Archey, president and CEO of AeA, described the trend as encouraging, but noted job growth in the tech industry was only half that of the U.S. private sector as a whole. ?“To promote the creation of high-paying technology jobs for the future, we need to address the competitiveness issues facing our country today," he said.

The report notes more than 1 million new computer specialists and 200,000 new engineers will be needed during the next 10 years.

Regards,
Lyn Acer