RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – The high-tech employment in the combined metro area of Raleigh and Durham totaled 70,600 in 2006, according to the most current metropolitan data available, says the AeA 2008 Cybercities report.
This was an increase of 3,900 jobs from the previous year. Individually, Raleigh’s tech industry employed 37,100 and Durham’s employed 33,500.
Both metro areas had high concentrations of tech workers. Durham ranked 4th nationwide by concentration, with 16 percent of its workforce employed by tech firms, while Raleigh ranked 12th by this metric, at 9.5 percent of its workforce employed by tech firms.
These jobs contributed greatly to each of the local economies by paying their workers well. The average annual tech wage in Durham was $95,600 and in Raleigh was $74,300. Both were significantly higher than the average private sector wage in their respective regions.
Durham has a large R&D and testing industry, which employed 8,900 workers in 2006, up by 900 from the previous year. Raleigh has the 10th largest software publishers industry, which employed 5,600 in 2006.
“The Raleigh-Durham metro area isn’t called the Research Triangle for nothing. AeA’s Cybercities report shows that Raleigh-Durham is high-tech,” said Glen Whitley, Executive Director, AeA Southeast Council.
“We have a tremendous amount to offer tech companies. Duke, NC State, and UNC at Chapel Hill all provide strong pipelines of highly qualified workers. Our population is among the most educated in the nation.
“However, one challenge we face is taking advantage of all the brlliant foreign nationals who are educated at our universities,” continued Whitley.
“Because of a dysfunctional high skilled visa and green card process, many of them are forced to leave the country, and we lose their skills and abilities. The really unfortunate thing is that they often would prefer to stay in the United States, but instead end up working overseas for our competitors. Our policymakers in Washington need to fix this.”
What Does High Tech Mean for a Combined Raleigh and Durham Metro Area?What Does High Tech Mean for Durham?M
* 33,500 high-tech workers in 2006 (36th ranked cybercity)
* 2,600 jobs gained between 2005 and 2006 (13th ranked cybercity)
* High-tech firms employed 156 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (4th ranked nationwide)
* High-tech workers earned an average wage of $95,600 (7th ranked), or 92 percent more than Durham’s average private sector wage
* A high-tech payroll of $3.2 billion in 2006, ranked 29th nationwide
* 700 high-tech establishments in 2006, ranked 59th nationwide
Durham’s National Industry Sector Rankings:
–17th in R&D and testing labs employment with 8,900 jobs
–52nd in computer systems design and related services employment with 3,000 jobs
Notes:
What Does High Tech Mean for Raleigh?
–37,100 high-tech workers in 2006 (31st ranked cybercity)
–1,200 jobs gained between 2005 and 2006 (27th ranked cybercity)
–High-tech firms employed 95 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (12th ranked nationwide)
–High-tech workers earned an average wage of $74,300 (31st ranked), or 81 percent more than Raleigh’s average private sector wage
–A high-tech payroll of $2.8 billion in 2006, ranked 33rd nationwide
–2,000 high-tech establishments in 2006, ranked 32nd nationwide
Raleigh’s National Industry Sector Rankings:
–10th in software publishers employment with 5,600 jobs
–32nd in computer systems design and related services employment with 8,600 jobs
–35th in engineering services employment with 5,900 jobs
Data are for 2006 unless otherwise noted.
Source: Cybercities 2008
Published by AeA, Advancing the Business of Technology (www.aeanet.org)
© 2008, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.
