Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

CompTIA’s State of the Tech Workforce, also known as Cyberstates, is a 146-page report that provides the definitive guide to tech workforce trends, the number of available jobs in technology, and tech industry employment statistics by state, metro area, and nationwide. The State of the Tech Workforce aggregates mountains of data and transforms it into easy-to-understand visuals and actionable insights – the digital economy at an individual’s fingertips.

According to CompTIA, the tech workforce consists of two primary components, represented as a single figure by the ‘net tech employment’ designation.

1. The foundation is the set of technology professionals working in technical positions, such as information technology support, network engineering, software development, data science, and related roles. Many of these professionals work for technology companies (40 percent), but many others are employed by organizations across every industry sector in the U.S. economy (60 percent).
2. The second component consists of the business professionals employed by technology companies. These professionals, encompassing sales, marketing, finance, human resources, operations, and management, play an important role in supporting the development and delivery of the technology products and services used throughout the economy.

The data for Tennessee reveals that 4.1 percent of the total workforce, or 145,637 jobs, are in the tech sector. Those jobs account for an estimated direct economic impact of $22.9 billion annually. How do those numbers compare with neighboring states?

1. Although a smaller overall total, Alabama has 4.3 percent of its workforce in the tech sector, but an estimated economic impact of $11.6 billion.
2. Conversely, Arkansas is much lower at 3.1 percent, and with an estimated economic impact of just $4.9 billion.
3. Florida clocked in with nearly 550,000 tech employees, which accounted for 5.2 percent of its total workforce. They, however, accounted for an estimated direct economic impact of $94.3 billion.
4. Georgia recorded an even higher percentage of its workforce, 5.9 percent, although its total employment in the tech sector was 306,962. In terms of estimated direct economic impact, the Peach State total was $63.2 billion.
5. Kentucky logged a total of 70,542 tech workers, accounting for 3.3 percent of its total workforce, and reporting a direct economic impact of $8.6 billion.
6. North Carolina reported 323,422 tech workers – 6.2 percent of its total workforce. The direct economic impact was $51.1 billion.

Only two metro areas in Tennessee made the cut.

1. Memphis reported 20,503 tech workers, which represented 3.1 percent of its workforce. They has a direct economic impact of $2.8 billion.
2. Not surprisingly, Nashville reported more robust numbers. The city has 63,204 tech workers, 5.3 percent of its total workforce. The direct economic impact was $12.3 billion. Nashville also ranked #10 in terms of job growth among the metros evaluated.

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