High-Tech Jobs Evaporate By the Thousands in Detroit and San Francisco Bay Area; Boston, San Diego, Seattle Hold Their Own

New England (Boston + Worcester + Providence)

Jobs 262,920
Establishments 11,612
Payroll $25.7 billion
Employment change 2008-2009: -3900

Detroit

Jobs 95,042
Establishments 4,206
Payroll $7.6 billion
Employment change 2008-2009: -16,700

San Diego

Jobs 110,985
Establishments 4,402
Payroll $10.3 billion
Employment change 2008-2009: +500

San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland + San Francisco + San Jose/Silicon Valley)

Jobs 394,290
Establishments 12,941
Payroll $48.6 billion
Employment change 2008-2009: -16,100

Northwest (Seattle + Portland)

Jobs 211,005
Establishments 9,431
Payroll $19.8 billion
Employment change 2008-2009: -4100

The full Cybercities report contains more details, including the average wages of high-tech workers in each city, how those wages have changed since 2007, and employment breakdowns by industry sector. It’s available from TechAmerica for $150.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/