California high-tech firms 1st in U.S.

Nationally, the high-tech industry had 5.9 million workers in 2009, down 245,000 from a year earlier as the recession deepened. That 4% decline was less than the 5% loss of jobs generally, the foundation reported.

In California, tech companies had 993,300 workers in 2008, up 15,800 jobs from 2007, followed by Texas (492,000), New York (312,300), Florida (292,300) and Virginia (283,400). Forty-one states continued to add high-tech jobs in 2008 even as employment overall declined.

The average $105,500 salary for California tech workers was 108% higher than the state’s average private sector wage that year. Nationally, high-tech workers earned 86% more than the average private-sector job and 47 states had wage differentials higher than 50%.

Because the data for individual states were a year old, Kevin Carroll, regional director of TechAmerica Southern California cautioned, “California, as home to the nation’s largest tech industry, is hard pressed to avoid (job loss) trends and can only hope to lead the way in eventual economic recovery.”

Still, California ranked first among all the states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico in several categories including:

• The most high-tech firms, 42,300
• Computer systems design and related services, 205,600 jobs
• Internet and telecommunications services, 167,600 jobs
• R&D and testing labs, 130,900 jobs
• Engineering services, 112,900 jobs

In addition, 76 of every 1,000 private-sector employees in California works in the high-tech industry, 7th highest concentration nationwide. Virginia had the nation’s highest concentration of high-tech workers, 95 of every 1,000.

Nationally, every high-tech sector lost jobs in 2009. Of the 245,600 jobs lost, 112,600 were in manufacturing; 59,000 in engineering and tech services; 53,000 in communications services; 20,700 in software services.

 by Jan Norman, small-business columnist
The Orange County Register