Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no shortage of technical know-how in California. In fact, the state boasts one of the nation’s largest concentrations of “advanced industry workers,” according to an article from Sci-Tech Today. A report by the Brookings Institution found that San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego had among the country’s largest share of high tech workers, a group that includes highly skilled software designers, architects, medical equipment manufacturers and web developers. The average pay in the state for high tech jobs is $90,000, twice the average pay for opportunities in other industries.
Advanced industries are defined by Brookings as ones that spend a significant amount on research and development, and employ workers with higher-than-average skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Only 23 large U.S. metropolitan areas have more than 10% of their workforce in advanced industries, compared with 59 in 1980, notes Sci-Tech Today. A lack of training is at the root of the problem, according to the report, which ranks the U.S. 32nd among developed nations for the percentage of graduates with science, engineering and math majors.
