Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Fastest-Growing Tech State Is... Minnesota

Posted by samzenpus on from the don't-you-know dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes: What's the fastest-growing state for technology jobs? You might be tempted to say California or New York, or even North Carolina. But according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's actually Minnesota, which saw the size of its tech workforce jump 8.36 percent over the past six months, to 37,600 workers. Utah and Nebraska came in second and third on the list of fastest-growing states, with six-month tech-employment gains of 5.75 percent and 5.22 percent, respectively. Michigan and Florida came in fourth and fifth. States with smallish tech-worker populations can enjoy heady growth rates by adding relatively few workers. But not all states saw their tech workforce grow in the first half of 2015. Four states—Pennsylvania, Washington, North Carolina, and Alabama—actually saw their workforce decline by 0.61 percent, 0.63 percent, 2.36 percent, and 3.52 percent, respectively, during the period in question. The declines in Washington and North Carolina may come as a surprise to anyone following those states' tech industries, which are quite robust. In Washington's case, layoffs at Microsoft and other firms over the past few months may have contributed to the slight decline.

12 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Echo chamber? by mr_mischief · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So Dice is posting about a Dice story that references government reports, but provides links only to Dice job searches. Why would it be so damaging to link to the actual data?

    1. Re:Echo chamber? by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      It's Nerval's Lobster, pretty much all of whose posts link to Dice.

      Which means either someone's really excited about Dice, or is on the damned payroll.

      And I know which I'm betting on.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  2. Law of large numbers by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whether something is the fastest growing has a lot to do with where it started. It's a lot easier to double a small number than it is to double a big one. I wouldn't expect traditional tech hubs like California or Massachusetts to grow fast because they are already large. It's not even a little surprising that some place not normally considered a hotspot for tech jobs would grow the fastest.

    1. Re:Law of large numbers by jordanjay29 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Because it's the only thing they can make fun of.

      They can't make fun of our Minnesota Nice attitude (we'd probably just laugh it off anyway).

      They can't make fun of our state fair, which is the biggest in terms of attendance per day (second only to Texas in terms of sheer attendance, but they have to run it twice as long just to get there).

      They can't make fun of our beautiful scenery, from wooded forests to Lake Superior to grassy plains and a lake every way you look.

      They can't make fun of our political successes, our progressive attitudes that care for people, or our economic sensibilities that actually work.

      No, the only thing that people outside of Minnesota can make fun of is the weather. And if that's the worst they can do, then bring it on!

    2. Re:Law of large numbers by swillden · · Score: 2

      Whether something is the fastest growing has a lot to do with where it started. It's a lot easier to double a small number than it is to double a big one.

      True, but in the case of Utah, it's already pretty large. 20 years ago, in the hey day of Novell and Word Perfect, Utah was actually #2 behind California in software revenue (total, not per capita), and while it declined quite a bit as those companies died, it never went away. Their failure created lots of tech startups because, frankly, after living in Utah not many people want to move to California, while the flow the other direction is pretty large, and because the CS programs of the University of Utah and Brigham Young University kept pumping out the talent supply that created Novell and Word Perfect in the first place.

      So being in second place means tech in Utah is pretty healthy. In my experience Minneapolis is also a pretty hot spot, and has been for a long time, as is Omaha. So I'd say all three are cases of significant tech industries experiencing healthy growth, not small areas just getting started.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    3. Re:Law of large numbers by swillden · · Score: 2

      It's a lot easier to double a small number than it is to double a big one.

      True, but when states where the Republicans are gaining more control are decreasing, that is bad. They hate things they don't understand. They want to remain ignorant. That is why they are destroying so many tech jobs.

      Is that why the most Republican state in the country is #2 in growth? #3 is pretty red, too. #1 is moderately blue.

      (Note: I live in Utah, but am not a Republican. Though I do tend to vote for more Republicans than Democrats.)

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    4. Re:Law of large numbers by hey! · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Given that a jump of 8.36% yields a statewide figure of 37,600, that means that Minnesota added about 2,900 jobs last year. That's not nothing, but in absolute terms it's not that much. California added 32,800 tech jobs last year; Texas 20,100; Florida 12,500; Massachusetts 8,700; and Michigan 8,100.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    5. Re:Law of large numbers by unimacs · · Score: 2

      Let's get real for a moment. I grew up here.

      The climate sucks by comparison to almost everywhere else. It's nice just often enough to know what we are missing when it's not.

      The food is bland across the entire state, even in the cities. Spaghetti is considered a spicy ethnic delicacy.

      We are stifled by Marxist politics and oppressed by the nanny state

      The mosquitoes are ginormous

      The ratio of women to men is only 50 to 50 which is not nearly good enough for males in the tech industry to have any real hope for a love life.

      In popular culture we are most well known for our accent and creative use of wood chippers.

      Let the open tech jobs go unfilled. Those of us already here in the tech industry will do our best to slog through the constant blizzards to do the jobs that companies can't pay enough for outsiders to take.

    6. Re:Law of large numbers by swillden · · Score: 2

      Then you haven't met many.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  3. Very good fiber in Minneapolis by HongPong · · Score: 2

    Don't forget you can get very good fiber access in a large part of Minneapolis http://fiber.usinternet.com/

    Would you like reasonably priced 10Gbps? No problemo! Ping times below 4ms? Done! yay!

    --
    --hongpong.com
  4. Re:Not enough women in Minnesota by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

    I saw an old documentary (Fargo). The women seem nice and slutty and willing to throw a funny looking dude some love.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  5. Re:What a silly misuse of statistics by unimacs · · Score: 2

    Actually there's always been a fair number of tech jobs here, - going back to Control Data and Cray Research. Seagate has a major presence here. There's long history of medical device development/manufacturing and 3M has its tentacles everywhere.

    If you went to the CES keynote this past winter you will have heard of "SmartThings", a major player in the IOT/smart home market. They came out of a very active "Maker" community.