The Arizona Technology Council released its Q1 2021 Arizona Technology Industry Impact Report, which shows an increase in tech companies, wages and jobs — a continuation from 2020.
The report shows tech jobs increased by 3.6%, to 204,161 jobs. Job postings in technology for Q1 have nearly reached the high-water mark set in July 2019.
Total industry wages grew by 3.07% to over $23 billion, and the number of tech companies increased by 4.3% to 10,093 firms.
“Arizona’s technology industry experienced strong growth in the first quarter of 2021, continuing the trend experienced throughout 2020,” said Steven G. Zylstra, the president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, in a statement. “As other industries seem to be recovering from the impact of the pandemic, technology in Arizona remains a beacon.”
The report also found that Arizona leads the nation for employment in three industries: satellite telecommunications, semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing, and aerospace product and parts manufacturing.
The tech sector here also acts as a job creator for other industries. In Q1, the job multiplier was 3.76, which means for every 100 jobs added in tech, 376 new jobs were created in other industries.
The growth of technology diversity has seen some positive growth, but not nearly enough. Black people make up only 4.63% of the tech workforce in the state, while Asian people make up 9.76% and Hispanic or Latino people make up almost 20% of the workforce.
Women in tech dropped by 2.5% from 2019 to 2020, and now make up 30.5% of the workforce in Arizona.