Oregon high-tech jobs rebound.

Byline: REAL ESTATE By Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

Oregon's high-tech employment is slowly climbing again, after plunging in 2002 following the bursting of the tech bubble.

The state had 83,091 employees in high-tech in 2005, up 1.8 percent from 2004, according to a report released Tuesday by AeA, formerly the American Electronics Association.

This is the 10th year the technology trade group has published its "Cyberstates" report, a state-by-state comparison of jobs, wages, R&D spending, venture capital investment, and other factors.

Oregon, with a gain of 1,441 jobs, was among 40 states where tech was on the upswing in 2005. "It wasn't a lot, but 1,400 jobs is better than losing jobs," said William Archey, AeA president.

Nationwide, the industry employed 5.8 million workers in 2006, up 2.6 percent from 2005.

Oregon long has been a center for semiconductor manufacturing and it continues to shine in that area. About a third of Oregon's high-tech employees work in semiconductor manufacturing.

Nationally, Oregon ranks third in semiconductor employment, the report said. With 26,230 workers, it trailed California and Texas, but edged out Arizona.

"That is almost a little surprising to me," said Art Ayre, state employment economist.

A major factor in Oregon's ranking is Intel Corp.'s huge presence in the state. The company has about 16,000 employees in Oregon, said Intel spokesman Bill Calder. Intel's campuses in Washington County represent the largest single concentration of Intel employees worldwide, he said.

In Eugene, the largest high-tech manufacturer is a semiconductor maker, Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America, which has 1,150 employees.

The report also noted Oregon's relatively high wage in high-tech. The average annual high-tech wage of $72,840 was 101 percent more than the average annual private sector wage of $36,226.

Oregon has the fourth-largest wage differential in the tech industry nationwide, the report said.

Oregon's semiconductor industry pushes up the average annual high-tech wage, Ayre said. "We have had a very highly paid semiconductor industry," he said.

The average wage for high-tech workers in Oregon peaked in 2000 at $80,670. It bottomed out at $68,302 in '02, then rose in each of the next two years. In '05, the average wage dropped slightly to $72,840.

AeA bases its report on figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National numbers are for 2006, but the state data trails by nine months, so state numbers are for 2005.

AeA broadly defines high-tech to include semiconductor, electronics and computer manufacturing, software publishing, telecommunications and Internet services, and R&D and testing labs. AeA counts administrative, sales and other nontechnical people who work at high-tech companies. The report doesn't count temporaries or workers contracted to do such jobs as janitorial work.

OREGON HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY*

Jobs: 83,091

Payroll: $6.1 billion

Average annual wage: $72,840

U.S. HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY*

Jobs: 5.8 million in 2006

Payroll: $425 billion

Average annual wage: $75,500

*2005 numbers, except where noted