Tech Jobs Declined 4 Percent in 2009

The U.S. high-tech industry shed a total of 245,600 jobs in 2009, for a total of 5.9 million workers, according to a new report by TechAmerica.

The 2010 Cyberstates report, released Wednesday, found that while the technology industry suffered from a recession-induced four percent decline in jobs last year, it still fared better than the private sector as a whole, which experienced a five percent decline in 2009. The decline in jobs follows four years of steady growth in technology industry employment, the report found.

Despite job losses, however, high-tech workers continue to be paid well, earning an average of 86 percent more than the average private sector worker nationwide. Forty-seven states had wage differentials higher than 50 percent, and five states had differentials higher than 100 percent, TechAmerica noted.

In addition, 41 states experienced net technology job growth in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available at the state level, the report noted. The largest gains occurred in California, which added 15,800 jobs, followed by Texas (14,600), Washington (9,300), Massachusetts (6,300) and Virginia (5,700). For the fourth straight year, Virginia led the nation with the highest concentration of technology workers, with nearly 10 percent of private sector workers employed by the technology industry.