An annual analysis of the nation's tech industry released Tuesday by CompTIA found Michigan added 13,160 net new tech jobs in 2017, third only to California and Texas, and ranked Michigan ninth overall in net tech employment.
Net tech employment is a metric that includes tech industry workers in technical and non-technical positions, technical workers in other industries, and self-employed tech workers.
In addition to added jobs, the Cyberstates 2018 report shows Michigan's tech sector is increasingly contributing to its economy responsible for an estimated $34.7 billion of the overall state economy.
"The continued growth of Michigan's tech industry is encouraging and the Cyberstates ranking reaffirms Michigan's place as a national leader in tech employment," Gov. Rick Snyder said. "Through efforts like the Marshall Plan for Talent, Michigan is reinventing the way we develop, attract and invest in talent. We're continuing to help Michiganders fill high-tech, high-salary and in-demand jobs as the IT field continues its rapid growth throughout our state."
The governor's Marshall Plan for Talent is a partnership between educators, employers and stakeholders to transform how the state develops talent. It seeks to help Michiganders fill career openings in fields that are facing critical talent shortages including IT and computer science, which is expected to have more than 270,600 job openings through 2024. State experts predict this field will grow at double the rate of the occupational average.
"Michigan has become a leader in job creation and this ranking shows that our focus on talent development is making a difference, specifically in the tech sector," said Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. "Ranking third in tech job gains is impressive, but I'm confident we'll be number one after we fully implement the Marshall Plan for Talent."
This is in line with the Cyberstates report, which shows a 43.4-percent increase in the number of job postings related to emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality and augmented reality, and blockchain.
The state's leading tech occupations include software and web developers, computer support specialists, and computer system and information security analysts, with the strongest year-over-year job growth happening in R&D, testing, and engineering services and software.
Cyberstates 2018 is based on CompTIA's analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. The full Cyberstates 2018 report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at www.cyberstates.org.
Published: Fri, Mar 30, 2018
