High Tech Employment
Booming Market Continues for Computer Specialist

High Tech Employment

Software development and application and computer network management are two of the hottest fields in job market

The High Tech Employment market continues to be strong with predictions of even better times ahead. With companies continuing to build up their information technology departments, there is tremendous employment growth in New England areas.Within this job sector, software development and application and computer network management are two of the hottest high technology fields in the Boston region.

For instance, the starting salary for experienced network managers,professionals who develop and manage highly intricate corporate data networks, is expected to increase seven percent within next two years. This means a jump from $74,500 to $98,000 annually for such professionals, according to several government and private employer surveys.

Many high technology specialists are finding employment within companies or departments focused upon management of email systems or networks dedicated to hand messaging devices such as Blackberry. "There is a great deal of emphasis on technical portability," says Rich Cronin, vice president for job placement firm Robert Half International."Given the highly competitive global marketplace, companies want to make it possible for executives to communicate and work anywhere in the world."

With corporations seeking more interactive websites,
professionals with experience in web development are in high demand

Another position with significant career potential is lead application developer which often features responsibilities for writing, testing and implementing technical code for software programs. Such individuals are expected to see a 7.6 percent increase in salaries, according to research recently released by Robert Half International, from $80,250 annually to $108,000 over the next two years.

Work in application architecture,which involves management of hardware and/or software systems,is widespread. here,too, a similar salary boost is being forecast with average pay going from $87,250 to $120,000 annually in the near future.

Even recent college graduates are benefiting from this compensation increase with starting pay for these new members of the workforce averaging from $45,000 to $55,000 per year. With a growing number of High Tech companies seeking to make their websites more interactive,professionals with experience in web development are also in high demand. There is explosive High Tech Employment job growth for those who are familiar with next generation technology allowing greater interface between customers and companies through corporate websites.

Qualifications for these and other high tech jobs often involve a mix of personal and professional attributes. At Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Waltham Boston,for instance, there is a great deal of emphasis on finding high tech candidates who can "participate well within our corporate culture," says Lisa Trearbhis, director of talent acquisition for the defense industry giant." Source:Boston Globe

High Tech Industries Trends

High-tech industries matter to the U.S. economy because they produce a large share of total output, and from a workforce standpoint, they employ a large numbers of skilled workers and provide higher wages for all types of workers. There are various ways that high-tech industries can be defined, and those definitions can have an impact on analyses. In a 2016 article, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defined high-tech industries as those having high concentrations of workers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) occupations. The study also presented data on historical and projected employment and output.

This issue of Beyond the Numbers applies current data to the high-tech framework defined in previous research.2 It also presents a new analysis of why wages are higher in high-tech industries, and how productivity differs between high-tech service-producing and high-tech goods-producing industries. This article uses STEM classifications from the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and data from the National Employment Matrix to identify high-tech industries by calculating the share of jobs in each industry that were held by STEM workers.
By Brian Roberts and Michael Wolf