Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Despite jobs lost, Mass. still a leader in U.S. tech employment

By James M. Connolly

Massachusetts held onto its sixth place slot for tech employment in 2010, although the state did lose 2,200 tech jobs between 2009 and 2010.

The positive news is that the almost one percent drop in tech jobs was lower than the figure for all of the U.S. Across the country, tech employment slipped by twice the Bay State rate, down 2 percent or 115,800 jobs, according to the annual Cyberstates report issued by TechAmerica Foundation. That national dip was less than half the 249,000 jobs lost in 2009.

TechAmerica, a national education, advocacy and research group, ranked Massachusetts sixth in total tech jobs with 247,200 workers, which is about 4 percent of the U.S. total of 5.75 million people. Nationally, all nine tech manufacturing sectors lost jobs in 2010, although software and services showed a 1.4 percent increase.

Maryann Fiala, regional vice president of TechAmerica, said in a press release,  “Massachusetts suffered tech job losses in 2010, as did most states, but certain key software and communications sectors added jobs – a very positive indicator of recovery.  State policymakers need to focus on maintaining the extraordinary talent produced by our universities and promoting a business friendly environment that attracts tech companies to the Bay State.”

TechAmerica also noted that tech workers in Massachusetts earned $107,600, which is 93 percent more than the average private sector wage in the state and exceeds the national tech wage of $86,800.