What state is adding technology jobs at the greatest rate? My guess would have been Washington, where Seattle has become a center for cloud computing. Giant enterprise software maker Oracle announced last week that it would base its new cloud technology center there. Mammoth online retailer Amazon, of course, has its headquarters in Seattle, and its web services are based there. Azure, Microsoft’s cloud business, is in the area, as is Google’s, and data services provider Century Link has cloud operations in the city after buying information security software outfit Tier 3 in 2013.
Washington does rank on a new list of states that are adding tech jobs at the greatest rate, but it’s back in fifth place, behind No. 1, Texas, No. 2, Florida, No. 3, North Carolina, and No. 4, Oregon. Notably absent from the top 10, presumably because Silicon Valley and the rest of the Bay Area are already staffed to the gills with tech workers: California, which has a technology workforce of 250,000.
The list was put together by Dice.com, a 23-year-old website based in Santa Clara, CA, that is arguably the nation’s leading hub for technology job postings. Other, broader sites like LinkedIn and aggregators like Indeed and SimpyHired, also have thousand of tech listings. But Dice’s specialty is information technology and engineering positions, so its studies are a laser-focused gauge of where the jobs are. For this, its third annual state listing, it used Bureau of Labor Statistics data that cover computer systems design and related services.
Texas added 8,100 tech jobs in the past year to employ 143,300 tech workers, nearly a 6% jump, securing the No. 1 spot. Dice’s report says, “Texas’ tech employers are looking to the future, with plenty of mobile, Big Data and software developer openings on Dice from Austin to Dallas to Houston.” A quick look at Dice’s listings in the state shows mobile applications developer jobs at Accenture, a senior mobile product quality automation tester post at Verizon and a senior site and mobile developer at Match.com. Texas was in fourth place last year.
The second-fastest-growing state for tech jobs is Florida. In the first six months of this year, Florida created nearly as many tech jobs (4,100) as it did in all of 2013 (4,500) and incumbent governor Rick Scott has made tech hiring and the skilled workforce an issue in his campaign. Florida is already encouraging programs that teach young people programming skills, like an outfit called techCAMP, which provides training for teachers and middle and high schoolers who it hopes will gear up to work in the so-called high tech corridor of 23 counties, anchored by three research universities in the middle of the state. A sample Florida job: senior mobile IT staffing manager at a Boca Raton staffing firm called Pinnacus.
In third place: North Carolina. Tech jobs there grew at a nearly 4% clip. Dice’s listings show some 2,200 jobs open in the state each day. Among the types of expertise that employers want: Java and SQL professionals, as well as Business Analysts. As of today, a company called TechDrive in Durham has an opening for a senior java developer, as does Principle Solutions Group in Raleigh. Veredus in Morrisville wants to hire a business analyst. So does ServSolid in Charlotte.
See our slideshow above for the complete list of the 10 states with the greatest increase in tech jobs.
One reason for the shifting landscape of tech jobs, and an explanation for why California is not on the list: “We think what’s happening is every company is becoming a tech company,” says Dice spokesperson Carrie Gray. “Companies across the U.S. are relying more on technology, and in turn, smaller cities are now these unexpected tech hubs.”
