Technology Overview
In this section, you find information regarding how technology industries and companies directly affect the economy of Georgia. This includes such things as employment, wages and growth specifically related to high-tech sectors. In addition, data is offered concerning female student performance within the state and women executives within the technology industries.
High-tech employment is an important part of Georgia’s workforce and economy. Software and IT services still comprise the largest sector, with telecommunications and high-tech equipment ranking not far behind. Internet/multimedia showed the largest growth within the state in terms of new establishments, with biosciences and software and IT services also showing growth. All of these sectors were above the national average. Georgia’s diversity in its high-tech industries has lead to many companies not fitting into one particular sector.
Georgia continued to see an increase in the number of foreign interests forming corporate entities within the state in 2011.
Georgia does rank less than several benchmark states in the high-tech employment, according TechAmerica’s CyberStates studies. In 2010, Georgia ranked 11th in the overall nation in high-tech employment, but slipped to 13th for 2011. Though we did suffer job losses in key sectors, we are poised to gain ground, with projected employment growth, especially in key high-tech industry fields. Another factor in these ratings is that the CyberStates report has a much narrower definition of technology than the Technology Association of Georgia, which includes such areas as aerospace and other advanced manufacturing and research and development.
As with the rest of the nation, the economic recession and weak recovery have negatively affected Georgia in both high-tech employment and growth. However, Georgia has had some promising rebounds, climbing above the national average. The biosciences and telecommunications sector suffered the most, due to job losses, with software and IT services and high-tech equipment showing strong gains.
Plans for hiring within Georgia’s technology sectors continue to remain strong. Many of the state’s technology decision makers said the size of their technology workforce in Georgia will increase over the next five years.
Priorities for spending within the technology sectors changed this year, with Mobile/Wireless initiatives ranking than Security.
After suffering in past years, Georgia’s high-tech average wage has rebounded slightly. Though still below several benchmark states and the national average, projections predict increases in growth over the next year.
Though still below the national average, Georgia continues to steadily gain ground in female student performance. Standardized math scores for both fourth grade female students continued to rise in 2011, bringing on par with the national average, but still below most benchmark states. Math scores for eighth grade females remained the same as 2009 averages. In addition, Georgia continues to kept pace with the national trend of female high school students outperforming their male counterparts in terms of GPA. Female enrollment in college has also continued to be higher than males across the country. Georgia is still trending above the national average, with a large segment of these female high school graduates choosing to attend college within the state.
The number of female executives in technology companies is still lower than that of non-technology companies. However, as of 2011, women now serve as board members on over half of the public technology companies in Georgia.
Technology exports in Georgia are an important aspect of our economy. Our high-tech exports make up a larger portion of our total than the national average, with a value that surged more than $1 billion in 2010. Advanced manufacturing of aircraft and related parts made of the majority of these exports.
