A labor shortage and increasing demand for skills such as software engineering means technology graduates are enjoying some of the highest demand - and the highest salaries - in the American workforce. Business Week said a new report from the AeA - formerly the American Electronics Association - found that 51 major US cities added high-tech jobs to their economies in 2006. The highest demand was for graduates with software engineering and chip manufacturing skills - although the technology sector as a whole is experiencing heightened demand. However, a labor shortage means there is a shortage of qualified personnel and as a result, those entering the industry are enjoying some of the most competitive salaries around. The site says pay in the sector is 87 per cent higher than the private sector average - and wages are growing at a rate of four per cent a year. Average salaries are now $80,000, although the industry's highest earners - who are typically based in Silicon Valley - bring in an average paycheck of $144,000 a year, it added. Business Week said 850,000 new IT jobs are forecast to be created in the ten years to 2016. According to the US Bureau of Labor, around 324,000 of these positions will be in the field of software engineering.  |