Tech is back

Many counted the technology industry down and out after the dot-com bust of 2001. It's taken more than five years, but the vital signs are finally healthy again.

As president and CEO of the Technology Association of Georgia, Tino J. Mantella gets to watch the state industry closely. He calls the current market "robust and transient."

On the robust side, jobs have been increasing steadily. According to an industry report that Mantella is preparing for the Georgia Technology Summit on Feb. 28, technology employment was down 8.7 percent in 2002, 5.5 percent in 2003 and 3.3 percent in 2004. In 2005, the sector turned the corner, with employment going up by .04 percent. Atlanta technology companies added 1,300 jobs in the first half of 2006, which Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Georgia State Economic Forecasting Center, called "a turnaround."

LEITA COWART/Special

"The technology dynamics are very interesting in Georgia. We're seeing new start-ups forming and other companies considering relocating here."
TINO MANTELLA
President and CEO, Technology Association of Georgia

Other good news: The Technology Association of Georgia -- the mission of which is to educate, inform and unite the state's technology players -- saw membership grow by 25 percent to 2,500 last year. Georgia's universities continue to make major investments in technology research, such as Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center, an incubator for new companies. New Georgia enterprises rose by 7.6 percent in 2006, well above the national average of 4.8 percent.

"The technology dynamics are very interesting in Georgia. We're seeing new start-ups forming and other companies considering relocating here. Search firms tell us they are slammed with requests, and established companies are looking to grow," Mantella said.

That's good news, he said, because technology is a major industry sector that supports other businesses and pays high salaries. "It drives economic development from the standpoint of jobs and quality of life," he said.

The industry has helped Atlanta develop one of the country's

fastest-growing young (ages 25 to 34) and educated work forces, which in turn attracts more new companies and investment.

Atlanta ranks among the nation's top six metro areas for telecommunications and software employment and is seventh in terms of bioscience jobs, according to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Georgia has more than 200 companies, which employ a total of 10,000 people, in the hot field of bioscience.

Information technology security is another rising star with a strong presence in Atlanta, according to Ashley Vandiver, director of marketing and communications for SPI Dynamics.

"The security market is huge in Atlanta, second only to Silicon Valley," she said. "There are over 40 companies in the city, and others are looking to locate here."

"SPI Dynamics, a Web-application software-security company, started with 87 employees in 2006 and has 130 today," said Allison Srochi, human resources manager. "A lot of companies focused on network security. We're providing a very different layer of security. We're one of only five companies in the world doing it, and we're growing rapidly."

SPI Dynamics looks for people with a passion for ever-changing technology and specific skill sets for its research-and-development and sales divisions.

"We need developers in Java and dot-net platforms, quality assurance specialists and Internet network operators. Having Georgia Tech here is a great resource," Srochi said.

Jobs on the move

Because technology is never stagnant, the in-demand jobs can change rapidly, as can products and companies. That's the "transient" part of Mantella's industry description.

LEITA COWART/Special

"It's like musical chairs, with everyone stealing from each other. Even in India, where workers used to stay with one company, they're now jumping for double-digit salary increases."
DIANE TUCCITO
Vice president of human resources, Manhattan Associates

"When you look at the value of acquisitions in Georgia ($4 billion), companies like ISS, Scientific Atlanta, BellSouth and Harbor Payments were doing so well that they were purchased. We're seeing companies add new types of jobs and take away others, so it's hard to say where the job numbers will land," Mantella said.

It's not the same technology market that went bust in 2001, according to Steve Michalowski, university relations manager for Cisco Systems Inc. It's pervasive in all areas of business and is global.

"So much money was poured into bad investments back then. Salaries and expectations were so high that it was destined to blow up. It was almost a good thing, because the market needed to reset itself," he said. "We don't want that massive extension again. What we need is nice, slow, stable growth, and that's what we're seeing."

What he's also seeing is high demand and short supply for new talent.

"As business came out of the recession, company budgets loosened up, and they wanted to buy new technology products to take them to the next level," Michalowski said. "The demand for technology is spreading around the globe. New specialties are emerging, and, despite strong and growing markets elsewhere, America still seems to be the leader."

He noted the number of foreign students who want to start their careers here.

Competition for grads

With job opportunities expanding in fields such as biomedical technology, nanotechnology and security systems, Cisco and every other company are vying for scarce technical graduates.

"Too few kids are going into the computer, science and math fields, perhaps because, after the dot-com bust and the offshoring of technology support jobs to India, it didn't look like a career with opportunities," he said.

True, American and foreign companies are expanding their facilities around the globe, which means that "you're going to see more job opportunities in other countries and a ton of new opportunities here," Michalowski said.

"Middle and high school students need to hear that the field is hard but worth it from a money and career standpoint," he said. "We've had several new hires file for patents a year out of college. How cool and rewarding is that?"

Cisco recruits from top universities in the United States, India, Israel and elsewhere in order to find its future leaders.

"Good branding, name recognition, competitive salaries and benefits help us attract candidates, but the competition is stiff. Last year we began letting new talent choose where they want to work and what kind of technology they want to do," Michalowski said. "So now there's competition within the company, as different departments vie for the new recruits."

The competition is just as keen for experienced workers, according to Diane Tuccito, vice president of human resources at Manhattan Associates, an Atlanta-based global company that creates customized software for clients who want to improve and cut costs in their transportation, logistics and warehousing operations.

"It's like musical chairs, with everyone stealing from each other. Even in India, where workers used to stay with one company, they're now jumping for double-digit salary increases," she said.

The tech worker shortage is part of a global worker shortage. In the United States, there aren't enough younger workers to replace aging baby boomers. But it's also because of the dot-com bust and subsequent recession.

"After the bust, a lot of people left the industry and went into other fields, and you can't be out of technology for five years and hope to catch up," Tuccito said.

Paying a premium

With clients demanding more sophisticated solutions, Tuccito said Manhattan Associates recruits from top American and foreign universities for its IT, math and engineering needs in the United States and its 700-employee office in Bangalore, India.

Tuccito saw industry compensation levels climb by an average of 3.8 percent in November, with companies offering even higher increases for workers with hard-to-find skills.

Hot skills include J2EE programming (creating the algorithms for forecasting software), data analysis and business intelligence systems, voice recognition applications, biotechnology, security and radio frequency identification technology.

"You have to be real creative in finding and retaining people," Tuccito said. Manhattan Associates creates close ties with academic institutions and has invested heavily in creating a company training program to support employees' technology, professional and managerial development. It's also energized its culture with more opportunities for employees to exchange ideas and work together.

"When people feel good about themselves and their company, they stay," Tuccito said.

The work environment is a recruiting tool for SPI Dynamics as well.

"Candidates see a casual workplace in an emerging market, and they're interested in what we do," Srochi said. "We tell them about our open-door policy -- that when they have ideas, they'll be heard not only by their manager but up through the levels."

For people who are passionate about technology innovation, it's an easy sell. The challenge, recruiters say, is finding those skilled and passionate technical workers as the industry keeps growing.