| April 2006 |
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| Colorado ranks No. 3 when it comes to private-sector workers in aerospace |
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The Rocky Mountain state’s technology job market is flying high this year. After several lean quarters following a 2003 downturn, IT professionals are rediscovering many of Denver’s charms.
For starters, Colorado recently claimed its status as the No. 3 state in the country when it comes to private-sector workers in aerospace, passing traditional heavyweight Florida, according to a new report. California and Texas ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
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"Our aerospace companies have had success in winning contracts, which has increased Denver’s employment numbers substantially,” Patty Silverstein, chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Center (EDC) and president of Development Research Partners, said.
Colorado had about 24,600 private-sector aerospace workers in 2005. Nearly two-thirds of the aerospace companies in Colorado are located in the Denver area, according to the Metro Denver EDC.
Denver’s tech-heavy economy has become dependent on enterprises such as aerospace and IT. And with heavy hitters like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Ball Aerospace & Technologies in the region, the area is inexorably linked to their success.
Even the money seems to be better in Denver. Tech professionals in the Denver area reported earning an average salary of $74,300 in 2005, according to a survey by Dice. This was 5.7 percent more than the average U.S. tech salary of $70,300.
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| “As Denver’s economy continues to heat up, we expect the IT job market there to become one of the country’s strongest,” |
| - Scot Melland, CEO of Dice |
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Nationwide, the average high-tech salary grew 5.1 percent in 2005, a telling leap compared to a year earlier, when it grew at 4.3 percent, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
“As Denver’s economy continues to heat up, we expect the IT job market there to become one of the country’s strongest,” said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice, the leading technology career site. “Many of the hiring companies and recruiting agencies who use Dice observe a tightening labor market, and salaries are starting to trend higher as a result.”
IT companies are also finding the reasonable housing market, highly educated workforce and healthy lifestyles alluring.
Fast Enterprises, a services and product company that produces off-the-shelf tax software called GENTAX, recently relocated to Denver.
“Denver was well prepared for a technology company like Fast Enterprises, offering a highly educated workforce, central location to serve its clients, and a superb, balanced lifestyle that would appeal to its employees,” said Silverstein.
The company relocated 20 employees from other states and hired 25 to 30 locally, according the EDC.
This year alone should see the creation of 217,000 new tech jobs in the United States, Virendra Singh, a senior economist at Economy.com, said.
Singh also expects the job-growth trend to remain steady through at least 2010, with an additional 126,000 tech jobs created in 2007 and 123,000 more in 2008.
“Denver has the perfect synergy for the tech industry to thrive,” Silverstein said. “And more and more companies are discovering that.”
If you would like to be interviewed for the next Dice market report, or if you have comments about this article, please contact us at feedback@dice.com.
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| “Denver has the perfect synergy for the tech industry to thrive” |
| - Patty Silverstein, Chief Economist Metro Denver EDC |
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