What's the job market like in Austin TX?
One of the most common questions asked on local chat boards is "What is the job market like in Austin TX?"
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Forbes ranked Austin #3 in its Best Cities for Jobs in 2008.
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked us as 3rd lowest unemployment rate among the top 50 largest metros.
Austin Business Journal lists the unemployment rate for March 2009 as 6.2%, compared to 6.7% for the rest of Texas, and 9% for the US. (Updated April 2009 - numbers are not adjusted for seasonal jobs).
Diverse Range of Employers
According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, it's because we have a diverse employment opportunities that help us weather financial storms. Major sectors include technology, health care, business sectors, education, government and entertainment.
High tech companies that have set up shop in town include Dell, IBM and Freescale Semiconductor, 3M Company, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, AMD, Applied Materials, Cirrus Logic, Cisco, eBay/PayPal, Google, Hoover's, Inc., Intel, National Instruments, Samsung, Silicon Laboratories, Sun Microsystems and United Devices.
Other major employers in town include the State of Texas, The University of Texas, the Seton Healthcare Network.
Lots of Happy, Educated (Young) Employees
Let's face it, people want to live in Austin. So much in fact, that when University of Texas students graduate, they often stay, making the available workforce well-educated and, of course, younger than average.
College grads love going to bars, eating out at restaurants, going to concerts, and having plenty of outdoors activities, all of which Austin supplies. Combine that with a lower cost of living and a wide range of employers, and you can see why no one wants to leave.
Young, happy and smart -- that's three things that businesses like in their employees-- making Austin an ideal place for companies to set up shop.
Richard Florida even used Austin as a major example in his bestseller book, "The Rise of the Creative Class," which talks about communities that thrive when the "creative class" (those who create for a living, which he includes among others as engineers, software developers, as well as the more obvious designers, artists and architects) is well taken care of.
Let's look at the overall job climate, shall we? When you're done, check out my links to help you with your job search.
Average Occupational Hourly Wages & Annual Salaries 2007 |
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