It may not yet be as bad as the dot com bust of 2001, but tech industries are facing mounting employment pressure.
Country-wide, unemployment has raced past eight percent and, though in 2001 it reached seven, those unemployed in tech make up more than five percent of the industry, according to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the Philadelphia region, the general unemployment number eclipsed seven percent, but within city limits, it is nearing nine.
News of tech job losses have been lost in a troubling economy, but they have come, most recently cuts by Franklin Electronic Publishers and United Technologies. In August, the startling news came that some 50,000 tech jobs had been lost nationwide in a single year. A recent poll showed the weakest employment outlook since 1982.
It may be dour news for the region, which has seen a growing buzz around its tech scene, including particular attention to developing as a green tech hub. Vice President Joe Biden was at the University of Pennsylvania last month to discuss just that.
It’s clear Philadelphia and the nation’s tech scene is bleeding. How directly that is affecting Philly’s tech scene isn’t as clear. It still might be worth brushing up on job-interview etiquette.
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