Silicon Valley remains a haven for innovation and high tech jobs
Unlike the mass exodus of laid off workers following the dot com bust in 2001, even though the recession has hit the technology industry as a whole and Silicon Valley in particular pretty hard, the people are staying put, and the Valley has retained its stature as one of the globe’s high tech capitals.
According to Mercurynews.com (8/13/09), “wages are up and innovation is on fire. And by one measure, the Valley’s work force continued to be more dominated by technology than any other place in the country.”
“The creativity in Silicon Valley has never been stronger,” said Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “Whether that’s clean and green tech or numerous other technology clusters, the innovation sector is strong.”
Average tech wages throughout the region have shot up 36 percent, but at the expense of middle-wage jobs. “The innovation is done here by a few highly paid people, while all the work to keep it going is overseas,” said Ron LaPedis, a 53-year-old consultant in San Bruno.
According to a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
▪ High-tech jobs are five times more densely concentrated in Santa Clara County than in the nation as whole. The six-county Silicon Valley corridor is about three times more concentrated.
▪ The growth of a biotech cluster in San Mateo and San Francisco counties and the Web portal and Web search industries in Santa Clara County helped counter downward employment trends.
▪ High-tech employment fell 17 percent, or 85,000 jobs — 65,000 of them in Santa Clara County. During the same period the national work force grew by 4 percent.
▪ High-tech wages grew 42 percent in Santa Clara County, from $96,650 to $137,330.
▪ The Valley remained an innovation leader with 11 of the top 20 U.S. cities in new patents.
Just three of eleven industry sectors in the area have added jobs between 2001 and 2008: aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and scientific research.
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