High-tech tumble

BYLINE: ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer

Oklahoma is 33rd on a list of states ranked by technology employment. / span class='leadp' Though a new report indicates that the nation's technology sector is growing at a steady clip, Oklahoma continues to lose tech jobs. //span In 2005, the last year state-by-state data was available, Oklahoma employed 37,700 in tech-related positions, a 1,050 drop from the previous year and the fifth decline in a row, according to the 2007 Cyberstates report issued by AeA, formerly the American Electronics Association. / Oklahoma now places 33rd on the list of states ranked by total tech employment, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

/ California was the top state for tech employment, followed by Texas and New York. / Oklahoma was one of only 12 areas that lost tech jobs in 2005. / The Cyberstates report indicates that the nation added 87,400 tech jobs in 2005, an increase of 1.58 percent. Last year an additional 147,000 tech jobs were created, an increase of 2.6 percent. / Tom Walker, executive vice president and chief operating officer of i2E Inc., a corporation dedicated to the creation of high-tech businesses in Oklahoma, said the continuing slip isn't surprising. / "Tulsa lost the second-greatest number of jobs in the nation during the tech bust at the start of the decade, and you don't recreate those overnight," he said. / The Tulsa area had built a significant tech presence in the late 1990s, including large telecommunications facilities operated by WorldCom Inc., which employed 4,600 in Tulsa at its peak, and WilTel Communications Group, which once employed more than 3,000 locally. / However, a series of accounting scandals at WorldCom uncovered $3.8 billion in fraud and precipitated the company's bankruptcy. WorldCom was later acquired by Verizon Communications Inc., which now employs an estimated 1,500 people in the state. / WilTel amassed a $7 billion debt building a fiber-optic network that was completed in 2001, right as demand plummeted. WilTel was purchased first by Leucadia National Corp., then Level 3 Communications Inc. Level 3 subsequently laid off an unspecified number of WilTel employees, and moved some to Colorado. / And, along with the bigger tech firms, many smaller employers also suffered. / Despite the past hardship, Walker and other Tulsa tech professionals say they are confident that the slide has ended. / Clint Parr, president and CEO of Anyware Mobile Solutions, a maker of software applications for portable devices, said local tech businesses have thrived in the past year. / "I've seen a huge upsurge in activity in 2006 in contrast to the coasts," he said. "We're gaining a lot of ground." / Anyware's work force, now 25, is expected to grow to 40 by the end of the year, with further expansion in 2008. / The Cyberstates report gathered federal data on a broad range of tech workers, including engineers, programmers, technology executives, scientists and academics, as well as administrative assistants, salespeople, human resource personnel and other non-technical people employed by tech companies. / In 2006, the national average tech salary was $75,500, below the $78,691 average in 2000, the peak of the dot-com boom, but significantly above the average private sector wage of $40,500. / Oklahoma's average tech industry wage was $48,796 in 2005, down slightly from $48,842 the year before. Among U.S. states and territories, Oklahoma now ranks 45th in tech pay. / However, the number of tech-related companies and establishments in Oklahoma increased 4.4 percent in 2005 to 3,065. The national increase during the same period was 1.7 percent. / Walker said the growing number of organizations is a hopeful sign that will result in new jobs. / "Typically, two-thirds of all the net new jobs in the country are created by start-up firms in their first few years," he said. / Jim McGill, a board member of the Economic Development Commission for the city of Tulsa and the chairman of the University of Tulsa's committee on technology commercialization, said local entities have the desire and drive to create more jobs. / However, filling the jobs will be difficult, as "brain drain" caused by talented college graduates moving away remains a problem. / "The tech area is growing sufficiently fast, though it's difficult to find people," he said. "We're employing summer interns from TU to fill the gap and hope we can hold onto them after they graduate." / / Robert Evatt 581-8447 / robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com /