Local tech job listings jump 22%
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Technology job listings in the Pittsburgh market are up 22 percent from a year ago, according to Dice.com, a tech employment data center.
"There are five cities in the U.S. where tech job listings have ballooned by more than 20 percent year over year, and you won't find the traditional strongholds of Silicon Valley and New York on the list," wrote Tom Silver, senior vice president of the New York City-based Dice, which has about 85,000 online listings.
Dice's Pittsburgh want ads totaled 5,721 through August 2008, the company reported yesterday, compared with some 4,700 through August 2007. Listings for Pittsburgh averaged 719 at the start of each month through September, a 22-percent jump from the same period in 2007. Salary comparisons were not available.
Hartford, Conn., topped the list with 30 percent growth, followed by Cincinnati, 28 percent; Miami, 23 percent; Pittsburgh at 22 percent; and Charlotte, N.C., at 21 percent.
"Pittsburgh is doing better than we would've thought," Mr. Silver said. "Typically when you see growth in the tech market, you'd expect to see it in the more typical tech hot spots like Silicon Valley."
Mr. Silver attributed much of the rise to companies that need to fill specific needs. BNY Mellon is looking for a security system architect, for instance, while Deloitte Touche needs SAP programmers.
The Pittsburgh Technology Council was not surprised at Dice's findings, spokesman Kevin Lane said, given that the council's own online career center typically has 1,600 listings per month.
"We know from surveying our member companies that their No. 1 concern is finding qualified talent specific to their industries," he said, be it in hardware manufacture, software design or telecommunications.
Correction/Clarification: (Published Sept. 12, 2008) Dice.com technology job listings for Pittsburgh averaged 719 at the start of each month through September, a 22-percent jump from the same period in 2007. This story as published Sept. 11, 2008 did not explain how the percentage increase was calculated.
First Published September 11, 2008 12:00 am
