Seattle Surpasses Silicon Valley in Tech Job Creation

The number of jobs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) related industries has grown at a higher rate in the Seattle area than in Silicon Valley, according to a Forbes/Praxis Strategy Group study released this week. The Seattle area placed top on the list above such cities as Washington D.C., San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Baltimore. The Seattle metro area saw growth of 12 percent in tech jobs and 7.6 percent in STEM jobs. More impressively, Seattle saw tech employment grow by 43 percent between 2000 and 2011, while STEM jobs grew by 18 percent. By contrast, Silicon Valley saw STEM employment actually fall by 170,000 during the period.

Though STEM industries tend to be cyclical, Seattle has benefited from the presence of such companies as Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing that have shown sustained growth over the past decade. The area should continue to grow. Amazon currently has more than 1,000 open positions available in the Seattle area. Meanwhile, jobs in the Valley have diminished in many sectors including manufacturing that have a substantial number of STEM workers.