For Immediate Release
April 22, 2005

High Tech Expansion: Georgia Shows Growth in High Tech, High Wage Jobs that Require More Education

Though Georgia’s technology industry has been in a downturn since 2001, the number of state residents employed in high tech occupations – paying high wages – has actually grown during that time, a new Georgia Institute of Technology analysis of employment and wage data shows.

Employment in high tech occupations requiring higher levels of education -- such as computer systems & software specialists, aerospace engineers, life scientists and biomedical engineers, and physical scientists -- grew in Georgia from 2001 to 2003. Illustration: Kay Lindsey Dowload 300 dpi image

The apparent contradiction can be explained by the growing demand for workers with high levels of knowledge and skills even in organizations not traditionally considered “high tech.” An example would be computer systems and software specialists who help improve productivity within “low tech” manufacturing operations.

“Computer systems and software specialists are enabling a lot of different industries, not just information technology services firms,” said Jan Youtie, a principal research associate in Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute. “When you are trying to define a state’s position in the high tech economy, it can be useful to examine high tech occupations as a complement to looking at high tech industries."

Analyzing data from both federal and state sources, Youtie and collaborators Philip Shapira and Jue Wang found that jobs requiring high levels of education grew 12 percent in Georgia from 2001 to 2003. While these high tech occupations added approximately 9,000 jobs to the state’s economy, employment in the rest of the state’s occupations declined by two percent.

The growth took place among high tech occupations with average wage rates of more than $32 per hour. That job category added more than 11,000 jobs, while high tech occupations with lower average pay rates lost approximately 1,500 jobs. Youtie suspects that may reflect a decline in technician-level positions.

“When we focused on the high tech occupations, it seemed that the technician-level occupations tended to have more of a decline, while occupations that paid higher wages – such as computer systems and software specialists, aerospace engineers, life scientists and biomedical engineers – had some growth,” she said.

At the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, a scientist conducts laboratory research in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory. Such occupations as life scientists and biomedical engineers grew in Georgia between 2001 and 2003. Photo courtesy CDC

While that trend needs more study to determine whether it affects all occupations, it nevertheless points out the demand for a better educated work force, Youtie added.

“Our economy requires more specialization, new ideas and more complex thinking,” she said. “These high tech occupations require higher education, and the pay rate reflects that need for higher education. There is also a payoff to the broader economy from the higher wage rates.”

Beyond the economic impact from their higher wages, such highly-educated workers also help keep the state’s industries competitive, noted Shapira, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy and co-author of the analysis, which was reported in the Georgia Tech newsletter High Tech Vital Signs.

“Positions that require high levels of knowledge and skill, defined as high tech occupations, are important to maintaining the state’s overall competitiveness,” Shapira said. “Not all jobs in industries defined as high tech actually require higher education or higher skills, while many jobs that do require those are in other sectors. That’s why it’s important to look beyond the traditional ‘high tech’ industries.”

But the growth of these high-wage occupations raises a concern about a widening disparity between occupations based on educational levels, the researchers warned.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia has a higher proportion of high tech workers than the country as a whole: 2.4 percent for Georgia versus 2.2 percent nationally. High tech occupations that exist in Georgia at higher rates than the national average include network and computer specialists, electronic engineers, nuclear engineers, microbiologists and epidemiologists.

While these high tech occupations were growing, Georgia industry classified as “high tech” lost about 1,400 jobs between 2002 and 2004. (The reporting periods for high tech occupations and high tech jobs are not identical).

Georgia’s high tech industry decline – though small – can be explained by the state’s larger share of workers in high tech sectors such as software publishing and computer systems design that experienced job losses nationally. However, Georgia’s aerospace products and parts manufacturers grew faster than their counterparts in other states, which partially mitigated the downward trend, the researchers noted.

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing, along with computer services and architectural services, accounted for more than 60 percent of Georgia’s high tech employment.

Though Georgia’s high tech industry has lost ground since 2001, the decline stabilized in the state sooner than it did nationally. High tech employment actually increased by 2,000 jobs in Georgia during the second quarter of 2004, though the researchers cautioned that the rise may be attributable to seasonal factors.

High tech industry makes up about five percent of the state’s employees, more than 149,400 jobs. But this industry accounts for eight percent of the total state earnings because high tech companies pay 1.7 times more than what a typical private employer pays – though there is considerable variation in wage levels across high tech industries.

“The salary for all high-tech occupations is about twice what it is for the average occupation in Georgia,” Youtie noted. “Even though there is a concern about low-cost competition and the need to reduce costs, it seems that specialized skills and capabilities are still valued and rewarded in the Georgia economy.”

Data for the analysis came from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Georgia Department of Labor.

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MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (john.toon@edi.gatech.edu); Fax (404-894-4545) or Jane Sanders (404-894-2214); E-mail: jane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu).

TECHNICAL CONTACTS: Jan Youtie (404-894-6111); E-mail: (jan.youtie@edi.gatech.edu) or Phil Shapira (404-894-7735); E-mail: (philip.shapira@pubpolicy.gatech.edu).

WRITER: John Toon