Even Tech Was no Match for the 2009 Recession
After four years of steady growth, even the U.S. high-tech sector was no match for the great recession.
The sector lost 245,600 jobs in 2009 as the recession wreaked havoc in everything from software and services to communications and manufacturing, according to a 50-state overview of the industry put together by the trade group, Tech America. There wasn't much good news in the report as every high-tech sector took a haircut, the biggest loser being in manufacturing, which accounted for 112,600 of the 245,600 sector jobs that disappeared in the last year. The breakdown:
- Software services: Down 20,700 jobs
- Engineering and tech services: Down 59,100 jobs
- Electronic components manufacturing: Down 37,100 jobs
- Semiconductor manufacturing: Down 25,400 jobs
- Space and defense systems manufacturing: Down 1,200 jobs
- Communications services: Down 53,000 jobs
When it came to adding tech jobs, the biggest winners included California (+15,800,) Texas (+14,600), Washington (+9,300), Massachusetts (+6,300), and Virginia (+5,700).
Despite the grim news, it still was financially worth the effort seeking out a position in the tech industry. Last year, people working in high tech received average salaries of $84,400, compared with private sector wages of $45,400. (Software services accounted for the highest-paying jobs, where the average wage was $92,900.)
Since the start of the year, the tech economy appears to be enjoying a mini-boom with banner sales for bellwether firms like Apple, IBM and Google. However, despite nascent signs of economic stabilization - if not accelerating growth - Christopher W. Hansen, president of TechAmerica and the organization's chairman, Phillip Bond, warned in a joint letter that the federal government ought not to assume that the damage had fully healed.
Without decisive action, policymakers in Washington might not see the recovery that we are hoping for," they wrote. "We see the benefit of focused technology policies in the federal marketplace where private companies and their employees are hard at work answering some of the greatest challenges of our time. The technology industry could benefit from a comprehensive innovation agenda that encourages competitive tax policy, broadband deployment, and the creation of more well-paying tech jobs across the country to help put America's brightest minds to work."