Georgia's high-tech industry didn't escape the effects of the down economy last year.
The state suffered a net loss of 1 percent of its high-tech jobs in 2010. However, that was better than the nation as a whole, which lost 2 percent of its high-tech jobs. Georgia also added tech jobs in some areas and wages for the average tech worker increased slightly, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the non-profit TechAmerica Foundation.
High-tech employment declined by 1,700 jobs to 161,200. That total ranked Georgia 13th in the U.S. The state had 14,300 high-tech establishments, which was eighth in the nation, and a high-tech payroll of $12.9 billion, placing it 13th in the country.
Georgia added jobs in computer systems design and software publishers, while losing jobs in the Internet and telecommunications services sector. It still ranked fifth nationally in Internet and telecommunications services.
"Software services is a high-paying growth sector and Georgia saw solid job gains in both computer systems design and software publishers," said Tino Mantella, president and CEO for the Technology Association of Georgia and TechAmerica Georgia. Mantella said he is "... confident, based on early numbers and the reports of tech job openings in the first three quarters of 2011, that the tech industry as a whole is on the rise for the state."
The average tech worker in Georgia earned $79,900 in 2010, which ranked 18th in the U.S. That also was 85 percent more than the average Georgia private sector wage.
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