[V]ermont’s health care industry employs thousands of people and pays some of the highest wages in the state, and the number of those jobs increased by 8 percent in just 10 years.
That’s according to a recent study from the Vermont Department of Labor on the impacts of science, technology, engineering and math on employment. The study is called “Tech in Vermont: A Study of the Prevalence and Impact of Tech in the Green Mountain State.”
The study’s methodology breaks down science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, into two categories: health (jobs in any type of health care) and core (most other technology jobs, including manufacturing).
In 2014, there were about 74,000 jobs in the two categories, making up about 24 percent of Vermont’s jobs, compared with 25 percent nationally. About 60 percent of Vermont’s 74,000 “technology” jobs were in health care — higher than the national average of 54 percent.
In all sectors of Vermont’s employment, jobs grew at 0.1 percent a year between 2005 and 2014, according to the study. The general technology sector grew twice as fast, at 0.2 percent a year, and health care grew 1.4 percent.
Over the next eight years, general technology jobs are expected to increase 1.3 percent — from 25,789 jobs in 2014 to 26,122 in 2022. Health care is expected to grow 11.7 percent — from 38,034 jobs in 2014 to 42,465 in 2022.
Among all jobs listed in the study, the highest-paid positions were in health care: dentists ($204,760 a year), oral surgeons ($197,600), surgeons ($191,470), psychiatrists ($185,050) and miscellaneous doctors ($182,160).
The highest-paid “core” technology jobs were physicists ($157,130 a year), computer and information systems managers ($131,770), architecture and engineering managers ($115,500), software developers ($113,610) and actuaries ($111,600).
Compared to the rest of the country, Vermont has higher health care employment at outpatient care centers, hospitals, general health practitioners, nursing homes and dental offices. The state has a lower concentration of jobs at laboratories, home health care services, doctors’ offices and personal care stores.
In the “core” technology category, Vermont has higher employment in electric power generation, three different types of manufacturing, and drug wholesalers. The state has a lower employment concentration in computer manufacturing, wireless telecommunications carriers and three other types of manufacturing.
The Vermont Technology Alliance, a Burlington-based nonprofit, released a separate report emphasizing the study’s wage analysis. The average wage for workers in STEM “core” and “health” is $72,732, meaning the jobs outlined in the study make up 24 percent of Vermont’s jobs but 40 percent of wages in the state. (The annual health care wage was about $500 higher than the “core” wage.)
The Vermont Technology Alliance called the jobs “pervasive, fast-growing, high-paying” and said that with the right attention and support “the tech sector could be even bigger.”
“There’s no reason Vermont can’t be widely celebrated as a preferred destination for technology workers and technology companies,” the organization said, “but it will take dedicated work and action to make this vision a reality.”
The Vermont Technology Alliance recommends that lawmakers increase broadband access, cellphone coverage, affordable housing, and access to startup financing for technology companies.
