Report Finds Job Growth in State’s Technology Sector
Technology jobs and wages are up.California’s high-tech sector added 21,400 jobs in 2006, the most recent data available, according to a report released April 2 by the AeA, a technology trade association.
The 11th annual “Cyberstates 2008: A Complete State by State Overview of the High-Technology Industry” says the 2 percent increase in technology jobs in California to 940,700 marks the second increase since the tech bubble burst in 2000.
In addition, AeA found that California tech employees had the highest average wage at $101,200, 112 percent above the state’s average private-sector wage.
Marney Cox, chief economist for the San Diego Association of Governments, says local tech companies help bring higher paying positions to the region, helping San Diego remain competitive nationally and internationally.
“Those things are very important to the overall economy in San Diego and it is the kind of news that we need more of,” said Cox.
Cox says Sandag, a regional planning agency, has identified 16 industries, of which half are high-tech-related, that drive the economy forward.
Sandag found the computer and electronics cluster attracted more than half a billion dollars in venture capital funding from 2000 to 2006.
It also found 15,396 employees with an average annual income of $78,826 in San Diego County in 2005.
Joe Budano, president of the Programmable Power Division at Xantrex Technology Inc.’s San Diego office, says the region remains highly attractive for large and small technology companies. Xantrex is based in British Columbia, Canada.
“Technology jobs and wages are both up, as are venture capital investments,” said Budano, also the chair of the AeA San Diego Council. “When people think of California and high-technology, they often think only of Silicon Valley. With a highly educated work force, world class universities and gorgeous weather, San Diego holds its own against other tech clusters in the U.S.”
While there has not been a massive loss of jobs in years, job growth has come to a virtual standstill, according to the University of San Diego’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators.
The latest monthly report found only 300 jobs were added countywide in February compared to the year before.