Employment and wage trends in high-tech industries in Massachusetts

In the aftermath of the 2001 recession, the majority of high-tech manufacturing industries in Massachusetts saw significant employment declines. Across all 11 high-tech industry sectors, employment declined 14.8 percent.

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From 2001 to 2009, employment in the scientific research sector grew by 32.5 percent in Massachusetts. Currently, scientific research is one of the strongest high-tech industries in Massachusetts. During the same period, average pay increased by 45 percent (the largest increase across all Massachusetts high-tech industries).

Unlike employment in scientific research, employment in computer systems design declined by 8.2 percent from 2001 to 2009, a loss of 4,928 jobs. However, over the same period, workers' average wages increased by 27.8 percent to $115,353.

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High-tech jobs require high-level skills to perform technology-oriented work. In 2001, the annual wage of a high-tech worker in Massachusetts averaged $77,314; average wages in the high-tech industries increased by 29.6 percent from 2001 to 2009.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program and the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. To learn more, see High-tech Industries in Massachusetts: Employment and Wage Trends during the 2001–2009 Period. For this report, industries have been identified as "high tech" using the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.