Amid the doom and gloom of downgraded bond ratings, debt ceilings and unemployment figures, a rare bit of good news poked through the muck last week like a crocus in springtime: According to a report by Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, Detroit ranks second in the nation for cities with the most new technology jobs.
Fueling this hiring boom, says Dice.com, the technology employment website that analyzed the data, is the auto industry’s need for workers familiar with the ever-more-sophisticated software and systems intregral to domestic automakers’ cutting-edge new vehicle platforms. The survey estimated July 2011 tech-job growth in Detroit at 66 percent above July 2010 levels.
Men’s Health takes a different, decidedly less optimistic view of why there are so many open tech jobs in Detroit: Because we’re a city lousy with luddites and late adopters. According to the magazine’s September issue, Detroit is one of the least iPad-friendly cities in America—beating only Toledo, OH, and Ft. Wayne, IN.
According to the magazine, to determine the rankings, editors looked at tablet use based on ad impressions from the mobile ad network Chitika, the number of Apple and Best Buy stores per capita, and the percentage of households that own tablets, notebooks or laptops, according to Mediamark Research.
Ok, so we’re not quite Silicon Valley … yet. But at least we’re not Toledo.
