Job Horizons
Other tech sectors, like software engineering, lost jobs. The unemployment rate for software engineers increased from 4.1 percent to 5.5 percent from the previous quarter to the current one.
Among the regions faring the poorest economically were the Rust Belt, the Sun Belt and the state of California. Driving the decline in these areas were drastic downshifts in the construc- tion and manufacturing sectors, which lost 25 percent and 15 percent respectively. Among the hardest hit areas of the Sun Belt were cities in Florida that traditionally flourish, like West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Miami. Only two of the 334 largest U.S. counties—Yakima, Washington and Bronx, New York—added jobs from September 2008 to September 2009.
When President Obama visited Iowa in April, he touted the state’s role in the country’s economic recovery, including the creation of high-tech green jobs. In Fort Madison, the president toured the Siemens Energy Wind Turbine Blade Manufacturing Plant that received close to $3.5 million in tax credits from the stimulus package. He explained his plans for “comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will ignite new industries, spark new jobs in towns like this, and make American more energy independent.”
In May, Interior Secretary Kenneth Sala- zar announced the approval of the na- tion’s first offshore wind farm. Since this will be the first of many projects on the east coast, projects like this should be a reliable engine for green jobs growth for a long time to come. Cape Wind, the company contracted to build the wind farm, will create 1,000 construction jobs and, ultimately, 150 jobs once the project is operational.
Wind is not the only source of green jobs. A proposed Desert Sunlight solar energy project in Southern California has the potential to create about 430 con- struction jobs, and then 15 maintenance and operational jobs once the facilities are built. A recently announced project will team the College of the Desert with First Solar to support local training for solar projects that are expected to come to Riverside County, California.
In South Plainfield, New Jersey, solar energy producer Petra Solar recently earned a $200 million contract to pro- vide the local utility with solar electric-
62 HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2010
ity. So far, the company has produced 20,000 solar panels that will be installed on electric poles. They plan to produce 200,000 panels. The company has added over 100 employees and hopes to hire an additional 150 this year.
After losing an average of 72,000 jobs a month during the previous year, the construction sector remained flat in March. Between February and March, construction employment increased in 26 states and the District of Columbia. Maryland led the country with 5,200 new jobs. Florida gained 1,700 construction jobs in a major turnaround from the 57,000 the state lost over the previous year. Conversely, four states have lost more that 18 percent of their construction jobs over the last year: Washington (18.4 percent), Arizona (19.9 percent), Colorado (20.3 percent) and Nevada (30 percent).
TOp-paID BaChELOR’S DEgREES
1. Major: Petroleum Engineering average salary offer: $86,220
2. Major: Chemical Engineering average salary offer: $65,142
One of the more encouraging stories of the economic recovery is the resurgence of General Motors. In April, GM announced a $400 million engine line that will add over 400 jobs is coming to their plant in Tonawanda, New York. The deal secures 300 jobs and adds 415 more. By 2013, the com- pany will add 245 jobs at its Bedford, Indiana, operations. GM also recently announced that it would invest $115 million in its Defiance, Ohio, casting facility. The investment is expected to create up to 189 jobs as part of the company’s plans to produce fuel- efficient small block engines for trucks and cars.
3. Major: Mining & Mineral Engineer- ing (including Geological) average salary offer: $64,552
4. Major: Computer Science average salary offer: $61,205
5. Major: Computer Engineering average salary offer: $60,879
6. Major: Electrical/Electronics & Communications Engineering average salary offer: $59,074
7. Major: Mechanical Engineering average salary offer: $58,392
8. Major: Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering average salary offer: $57,734
9. Major: Aerospace/Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering average salary offer: $57,231
10. Major: Information Sciences & Systems average salary offer: $54,038
Source: Winter 2010 Salary Survey, National Associa- tion of Colleges and Employers
Although the recovery has been mod- est thus far, it has been relatively wide- spread. In March, 33 states gained in employment. The state with the largest gain in employment for the month was Maryland, which added 35,800 jobs. Two other states gained more 20,000 new jobs in the month—Virginia and Pennsylvania. Three states—North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska— have 5 percent unemployment or lower.
Among the states that did not show gains in employment, Michigan, Ne- vada and Florida were the states with the most lost jobs in March. Michigan continued to have the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 14.1 percent. These states followed Michigan in un- employment: Nevada (13.4 percent), California (12.6 percent), Rhode Island (12.6 percent), Florida (12.3 percent), and South Carolina (12.2 percent).
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