MassTLC annually tracks the state of the Massachusetts technology economy as a benchmark both within the state and across the nation. We’ve listened to our members and will be sharing our insights on a regular basis throughout the year through this State of the Technology Economy column on www.mtlc.co. To follow this thread, click on the “State of the Tech Economy” tag below.
According to our analysis, one out of every eight workers in Massachusetts works in the tech industry, making the Commonwealth the techiest state in the nation.(1) Tech is thriving in Massachusetts, in part, because the state also has the nation’s most educated population. The Commonwealth is the first and only state in the nation with more than half of the working population holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher.(2)
Despite having the most concentrated tech workforce in the nation, the demand for tech workers far outstrips the supply.(3) While talent is the #1 reason companies locate in Massachusetts, Council Trustee Mohamad Ali, CEO of Carbonite, notes that “CEOs rank talent as the #1 impediment to growth…. Unless Massachusetts takes significant steps to grow this talent pool even further, our state’s growth will stagnate.”(4)
The total “net tech workforce” in Massachusetts of 410K includes all the tech sector jobs (307K) plus the tech occupations jobs outside the tech sector (109K) — the IT support, analytics, programming, and other tech roles in all the other sectors of our economy.(5) Add in the indirect and induced jobs (jobs at companies that support tech companies and employees from legal, marketing/PR and accounting firms to pizza, coffee, dry cleaning establishments) and the full impact of our tech economy can be seen — taken all together, tech underpins 1.2M jobs or 34% of all the jobs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.(6)
“In Massachusetts, a talented STEM workforce is both our greatest advantage and our greatest challenge,” remarked Council Trustee Dave Krupinski, co-founder and CTO of Care.com. “To retain, attract, and develop talent, we need a multi-faceted approach that includes sustained investment in education at all levels, support for internships and co-op programs to keep university graduates in the state, and national immigration policies that increase the flow of talent into the Commonwealth.”(7)
Massachusetts technology employers are bullish about the future. The majority (70%) expect an increase in employment at their organization, while 27% anticipate stability.(8) Those who expect employment growth cite organic growth as the most likely reason for increasing their workforce (50%).(9) Bringing new employees to aid in the development of new products or services (32%) and replacing departures (17%) are also reasons why employers expect employment growth in the near term.(10)
“I share the confidence that many tech sector leaders have in their potential for expansion in the next twelve months,” remarked Council Trustee Steve Conine, co-founder of Wayfair. “Our ability to hire the best and the brightest in the STEM fields will continue to be key to our success and will continue to help us grow and expand and employ more and more people in the state of Massachusetts.”(11)
Sources: (1) CompTIA Cyberstates; (2) MassBudget; (3 & 4) MassTLC TechPulse; (5) CompTIA Cyberstates; (6) MassTLC analysis; (7-11) MassTLC TechPulse
