Fewer workers, bigger paychecks in high tech

[via Fewer workers, bigger paychecks in high tech]

Among the report’s key findings:

— 86,137 high-tech jobs evaporated between 2001 and 2008, leaving the region with 435,826 people employed in the 11 industrial groups;

— Aerospace, pharmaceuticals and scientific research were the only sectors to add jobs during the period, while semiconductors, telecommunications and software were among the eight fields that lost jobs;

— Average wages rose so steeply that the region’s total high-tech payroll grew 14 percent to $57.7 billion in 2008, despite the job losses since 2001.

The report said “larger job losses among middle-wage workers than among higher wage workers” played a large role in the wage trends.