Washington, DC, November 19, 2003—Maryland’s high-tech employment ranking jumped to 14^th place by employment in 2002 compared to 16^th in 2001, according to Cyberstates 2003: A State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry, a new analytical report released today by AeA. Overall, the state’s technology industry lost 6,000 jobs between 2001 and 2002.

Cyberstates 2003 shows that Maryland’s tech industry dropped by 4 percent in 2002 to 158,600 workers. The state’s electronics manufacturing sector lost 2,600 jobs. On a positive note, the state’s R&D and testing labs industry added 1,300 jobs.

"The latest Cyberstates data show that Maryland’s high-tech industry lost jobs last year," said Greg Poersch, Executive Director, AeA’s Potomac Council. "However, Maryland has been buffered from drastic job changes that occurred in other areas and our companies are well positioned for growth in 2004."

Cyberstates 2003 also examines tech exports and venture capital investments. Maryland exported $918 million worth of high-tech goods in 2002, compared to $1.3 billion in 2001, a 33 percent drop. Similarly, venture capital investments in Maryland dropped by 35 percent, falling from $985 million in 2001 to $637 million in 2002.

Nationally, Cyberstates 2003 shows that high-tech employment fell by 540,000 jobs, dropping to 6 million in 2002. However, using preliminary data, we estimate that the tech industry will lose 234,000 jobs in 2003.

For the first time, Cyberstates 2003 is based on the newly implemented North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). This more current and comprehensive system allows us to capture several sectors, which we could not with the previous system. These include fiber optic cable manufacturers, semiconductor machinery manufacturers, and web search portals. Consequently, the data presented in this report are not comparable in any way to previous editions of Cyberstates.

Cyberstates 2003 is the seventh edition of AeA’s Cyberstates reports. The study includes seven chapters detailing national and state trends in employment, wages, and exports. Venture capital investments and research and development (R&D) expenditures are also examined. The report includes state rankings for each indicator. Cyberstates 2003 is based on the most current U.S. government data available.

What Does High Tech Mean for Maryland?

• High-tech firms employ 80 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2002, ranked 5^th nationwide

• High-tech workers earned an average wage of $66,532 (12^th ranked), or 80% more than the average private sector wage

• 9,300 high-tech establishments in 2001, ranked 14^th nationwide

• High-tech exports totaled $918 million in 2002, ranked 28^th nationwide

• Venture capital investments of $637 million, down 35% from $985 million in 2001

• R&D expenditures of $8.6 billion in 2000, ranked 10^th nationwide

Maryland’s National Industry Segment Rankings:

• 8^th in engineering services employment with 27,800 jobs

Source: Cyberstates 2003
Data are for 2002 unless otherwise noted.
2001 data are the most current for wages, payroll, establishments, and industry segment jobs.