More Tech Hotspots in America

It's our second list of six U.S. states where IT pros should look for work

- REENA GHOSH

In 2019, an estimated 307,000 tech jobs were created in the United States, according to the Cyberstates2020 report compiled by tech industry association CompTIA. This works out to an increase of roughly 2.6 percent over 2018. CompTIA estimates that net tech employment stood at 12.1 million in 2019.

In our previous article on this topic — printed in the January 2020 issue of Certification Magazine — we listed the top U.S. states for IT job seekers in terms of net tech job gains and innovation in our previous article. Now we’re back to take a look at the six next-best states.

In Colorado and Illinois, for example, the tech industry is attracting a diverse mix of potential employers. Michigan has shown a lot of promise as an IT-hub-in-waiting. These states are more affordable than California, New York, and Washington, for tech employees as well as companies.

It’s impossible to predict how the U.S. tech sector will perform in 2020. There’s widespread social unrest stemming from the police killing of George Floyd. A highly charged presidential election is waiting in the wings. And that’s to say nothing of the ongoing and massively disruptive presence of a highly infectious disease.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both the global economy and the tech industry is still unfolding. Some technology providers, however, are finding their services more in-demand than ever before.

With large numbers of people working from home, demand for improved telework and video conferencing software is already surging. Contact-free biometric identification, such as iris detection and facial recognition, seems likely to gradually replace contact-based identification such as biometric fingerprint readers.