Pittsburgh Technology Jobs See Yearly Net Gain
Hundreds of Pittsburgh technology jobs have been created during the last year.
A new study from The Technology Collaborative found that while 215 robotics and digital technology jobs were lost throughout Pennsylvania during the last fiscal year, more than 300 jobs were created, resulting in a net gain of 125 jobs during the 12-month period.
Tech Collaborative is a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization focused on growing the tech and robotics sectors throughout the state. The organization offers various resources to early-stage companies, including an incubator program, seed investment and industry expertise.
The group has seen a decrease in funding resources as a result of changes made to programs while competition for investments has increased. Although the group set a goal of creating 10 new companies during 2009, only eight companies actually materialized.
"It's a pretty good performance given the environment," David Ruppersberger, CEO and president of Tech Collaborative, told the Pittsburgh Business Times.
The organization has helped member companies create more than 2,600 jobs during the last 10 years, resulting in a net creation of 1,526 positions. The average annual salary for those positions is more than $70,000. During the 2008 fiscal year, Tech Collaborative handed out $3 million in funds to 20 projects.
Ruppersberger said he is cautiously optimistic that the robotics and digital technology industries in the Pittsburgh area will see some job growth next year, as requests from member companies looking to recruit new workers have already begun to increase.
The Pittsburgh area as a whole has continued to add jobs on a monthly basis, despite a slight rise in the unemployment rate and a decrease in employment when compared to last year.
During October, Pittsburgh saw its unemployment rate increase from 7.5 percent to 7.7 percent, following a decrease from 7.9 percent during September. The city's current rate is still lower than the national unemployment rate at the time of 10.2 percent
The city had a total non-farm employment of 1,127,100 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 1,122,300 workers during September, but a 2.9 percent decrease from last year.