MCPc Blog

Cleveland Tops in Tech Job Growth

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On Aug. 1, Businessweek named Cleveland the No. 1 city in the United States for technology job growth, citing that IT jobs in the city grew 107 percent in the past year.*

In addition, according to the first-quarter 2011 survey of its 900 member companies, the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA) found that 68 percent of Cleveland’s IT firms expect to increase staff in the upcoming year. Brad Nellis (@NEOSA_Nellis), executive director of the NEOSA, said that the number of Cleveland IT companies currently seeking new employees is at a five-year high.

For our own part, MCPc hired 56 technical associates in 2010 and already 47 so far in 2011, with expectations to bring several more on board before year's end.

Of course, job growth wouldn’t be happening without boosts in business. After a few years of belt-tightening brought on by the economic recession, some other promising figures from the NEOSA Q1 2011 survey include:

• 66 percent of respondents said that Q1 2011 business performance was either “good” or “very good.”

• 68 percent said that performance was “better” or “much better” than the first quarter of the 2010.

At MCPc, we’re excited to be a part of such a booming tech community, and can’t wait until we officially move into the heart of it all next month at our new, downtown Cleveland headquarters.

But It’s Not Only Cleveland…

In addition to the top-ten tech city countdown, Businessweek’s Rachael King (@sfwriter) reported on the growth in demand for talented IT professionals across the country. In fact, according to King’s article, the unemployment rate for tech professionals dropped 2 percent in January, from 5.3 to 3.3 percent, compared to a national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent in July.

Looking for a Technology Career in Cleveland?

Check out some of our previous blog posts for details on what we look for at MCPc, and general tips on landing (and keeping) a job in IT:

• You Can’t Hire Attitude

• Your Resume Has Five Seconds to Make a Good First Impression!

• Ten Tips for College Grads Starting Their First IT Job

Or, for more on tech job growth in Cleveland, see Olivera Perkins’ July story for The Plain Dealer, Help Wanted: Cleveland’s High Tech Employers are Hiring.

Your Thoughts?

Are you as excited about Cleveland’s growth as we are, still skeptical of its staying power, or fearful of “brain drain”? Share your thoughts on the Cleveland technology community and its impact on the local economy in the comments below.

* Top cities for technology growth were determined by Dice.com, a technology-career website that tracks annual growth in job listings across the country.

Beth Stec is VP of Corporate Communications and Human Resources at MCPc, and is responsible for the development and management of personnel programs and policies. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.

Image credit: The Cleveland Kid

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