| April 2006 |
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| Dice job postings in Houston are up 19% |
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The energy business will likely always be king in Houston, but the city is making great leaps growing its technology sector.
And legislators in the Lone Star state are pitching in to help.
The Texas legislature recently passed a bill to create the Texas Emerging Technology Fund in order to expedite development of new technologies. The fund, in conjunction with the Texas Enterprise Fund, has contributed a war chest of nearly $300 million to help spur IT growth.
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In a report by AeA, the nation’s largest trade association for the high-tech industry, Texas ranks second in high-tech employment, hiring 435,400 IT professionals.
And Houston is at the forefront of the hiring.
Technology job listings on Dice, the leading technology career site, jumped 19 percent in the Houston area during a recent three-month period, from 1,016 in December to 1,210 in March. The most sought-after IT skills right now, according to Dice, include Oracle, SAP and Java.
"Tech is slowly turning the corner from the nationwide technology downturn," said Sue Dark, CEO of DeepNines Technology and Chairman of the AeA Texas Council. "As the nation's second largest technology state, Texas attracted $1.1 billion in venture capital investments and exported $34 billion in tech products in 2005.”
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| “The Lone Star State is a prime center for the business of technology," |
| - Sue Dark, CEO of DeepNines Technology and Chairman of the AeA Texas Council |
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The state ranks third in the United States in venture capital investments and continues to be among the top tech exporters in the country, ranking second behind only California.
“There is a great level of investment in Houston’s IT market that has provided advantages over some other areas around the country,” said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice.
Texas also is the growth leader in two prominent industry sectors, engineering services as well as computer systems and design and related services, according to the AeA report.
Now, like many other metro regions in the United States, the problem is no longer a scarcity of jobs but rather a shortage of qualified candidates available to fill growing staffing needs. “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,” said Melland.
This year alone should see the creation of 217,000 new tech jobs in the United States, according to Virendra Singh, a senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com. That would make 2006 the best year the industry has seen since it flattened toward the end of 2000.
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.
And it is not just jobs on the rise, wages are also trending upward.
The average yearly salary for IT workers in Houston is $70,300, according to a salary survey by Dice. The area’s overall numbers are following a significant national trend.
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 a study conducted by Economy.com.
“The Lone Star State is a prime center for the business of technology," Darks said.
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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| Texas ranks second in high-tech employment |
| - AEA Cyberstates 2006 |
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