Job Horizons
by Jay Allbritton
jalbritton@ccgmag.com
A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE STEM WORKFORCE
THE NEWS IS GOOD
In April of this year, the country experienced the largest increase in the number of new jobs in over four years—290,000. Despite this spike in new jobs, job seekers who had given up on finding work and are now flocking back to the job market account for a slight uptick in the national unemployment rate to 9.9 percent. In May, the Labor Department also revised the number of jobs added in Febru- ary, switching a loss of 14,000 to a gain of 39,000. They also revised March’s numbers from a gain of 162,000 to a gain of 230,000.
Science and technology job seek- ers fared better than job seekers in other sectors. Tech compa- nies are not only hiring, they are often forced to compete for top recruits. Job seekers in the technol-
The rise in employment in STEM sectors is cause for hope
ogy sector have fared better than other job seekers recently, especially computer programmers and network techs. The tech-manufacturing sector, which lost 112,600 jobs in 2009, is the notable exception. Many experts predict that software services will lead the tech industry’s comeback. The sector employs 1.9 million people and grew by 10,100 jobs since the fourth quarter of last year. Tens of thousands of jobs for skilled workers in this sector will be added when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiates its health IT programs.
Along with a boost from the increase in start-ups and strong projected earnings in 2010, job numbers are also expected to improve due to stalwarts like Intel and Cisco adding signifi- cant numbers of new employees. Google added 786 employ- ees in the first quarter and announced that they would likely continue to hire “aggressively” for the remainder of 2010. Dallas-based software company Tyler Technologies is looking to add 150 project managers, support and IT staff this year. Several large Boston technology firms plan to consistently hire this year; among them are EMC Corp., Parametric Technology Corp., and PAN Communications.
A new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shows that graduating engineering majors consistently received the best job offers, accounting for eight of the 10 top-paid occupations for new graduates. The main
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reason for this remains the small number of engineering ma- jors that graduate each year, estimated currently at 4 percent. Of the top-paying engineering degrees on the list, students with petroleum engineering degrees earned the most with an average starting salary of $86,220, more than twice the average starting salary for all college graduates. The non- engineering degrees on the list were computer science and information sciences and systems.
An Execunet summary analysis found that confidence among recruiters that specialize in the executive employment market reached its highest level in 22 months in April. Confidence in the tech sector is also increasing among its workers. A survey of approximately 220 tech workers conducted by Techni- source showed that 32 percent of those surveyed in the first quarter of 2010 believe the economy is strengthening, a small increase of just 2 percent over the previous quarter. 41 percent felt confident in their ability to find a new job, also a 2 percent increase.
In April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employ- ment for electrical and electronics engineers grew 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the last quarter of 2009. That’s an increase of 16 percent over its lowest level, recorded in the first quarter of 2009. The unemployment rate for this sector dropped from 8.6 percent in the second quar- ter of 2009 to 4.6 percent in the first three months of 2010.
HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2010 61
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