Michigan Added 10,700 Technology Jobs In 2016

Michigan’s burgeoning technology sector grew by more than 5 percent in 2016, with employers adding more than 10,700 new jobs, according to a new report released Tuesday. With almost 222,000 Michigan workers employed in the technology jobs, the state ranks 10th in the nation for technology jobs, according to the CompTIA study.

Not only that, Michigan was among the top five states in 2016 for tech industry growth on a percentage change basis, according to the Cyberstates 2017 report.

With an estimated 221,994 workers, Michigan ranks 10th among the 50 states for tech industry employment. Michigan was in the top five states in 2016 tech industry job growth on a percentage change basis.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Michigan – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 271,900 in 2016. The tech sector accounts for an estimated 6.6 percent ($30.7 billion) of the overall Michigan economy.

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The annualized average wage for a Michigan tech industry worker was an estimated $89,200 in 2016, 77 percent higher than the average state wage ($50,400). Michigan ranks 21st nationally in average tech industry wages.
Other Key Findings From The Cyberstates 2017 Report

• Michigan ranks 27th among all states in the Cyberstates 2017 Innovation Score, which is based on an analysis of new tech patents, tech startups and new tech business establishments on a per capita basis.
• The state is home to an estimated 11,223 tech business establishments. More than one-third of these businesses (4,174) are located in the Detroit metropolitan area.
• The tech industry employs an estimated 5.3 percent of the overall state workforce.
• Leading tech occupations include mechanical engineers (42,610), industrial engineers (25,500) and computer user support specialists (20,130). In the Detroit market, application software developers hold down the third spot for leading tech occupations.
• The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of engineering services (+ 8.3 percent) R&D and testing labs (+ 5.4 percent) and computer systems design and IT services (+ 5.1 percent).
• Employers posted more than 28,600 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016.

“Over the past six years, we’ve worked hard to attract talent and close the skills gap, including in the hi-tech world, and have created nearly 500,000 private-sector jobs,” Gov. Rick Snyder said in a news release.

The governor also cited a strong public/private partnership dedicated to working together to build statewide student proficiency in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The state is also a global leader in design and engineering, and home to the most FIRST Robotics teams in the United States. FIRST Robotics is national program that offers high schoolers the opportunity to work side-by-side with professional engineers to build, design and program robots that battle one another.

“We hope to build on these efforts to continue to grow a talented workforce and hi-tech industry within Michigan,” Snyder said.

Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA, said the Cyberstates data “affirms the strength and vitality of Michigan's tech industry, and attests to its essential standing in the economy. Technology enables innovation and generates growth for companies, regardless of their size, locale or markets served.”

Cyberstates 2017 is based on CompTIA's analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, and other sources. Estimates for 2016 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete report with full national, state and metropolitan level data is available here.

Photo: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signs a robot created by the Northville High School Robostangs First Robotics team on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, during the Siemens Manufacturing in America Conference in Detroit. (Bryan Mitchell/AP Images for Siemens)