Growth in the the US technology industry lags behind the overall private sector. US tech companies added 119,000 jobs during the first half of 2014, according to data from the TechAmerica Foundation. As of June 2014, the US tech industry employed roughly 6.3 million workers.
During the first six months of 2014, tech employment increased by 1.9%, roughly the same percentage during the first half of 2013. The overall private sector witnessed 3.5% growth in employment during the first six months of 2014.
The research was broken into five categories: technology manufacturing, telecommunications, software publishing, IT services & R&D, testing & engineering services. All five categories recorded job growth during the period, with IT services & R&D adding 36,000 jobs, the most in any category.
Cuts galore
Despite the small increase in the US, the global tech market has witnessed a contraction. Large tech companies, such as Microsoft and HP, have cut thousands of jobs in an effort to become more nimble.
Microsoft is expected to cut 18,000 jobs by early 2015. The job cuts will affect 20% of the company’s testers and engineers.
HP has cut more than 50,000 jobs in the past few years. The tech giant recently announced plans to split into two companies: one focused on consumer products and one focused on the enterprise.
Dell cut 15,000 jobs earlier this year in an effort to rebound its PC business. Cisco cut almost 10% of its global workforce after posting a 3% fiscal 2014 revenue decrease.
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