Minnesota Heats Up for Tech Professionals Okay, so it's -12 ° outside. At least the job market's hot! Ranking among the top ten states in the 1996 New York Times article "Where the High-Tech Jobs Are," Minnesota's high-tech employment climate is downright tropical. * Growing at the scorching rate of 16% annually, Minnesota's software industry employs over 20,000 people with $769 million in earnings. * Minnesota's medical technology sector has more than doubled in size since 1985. In fact, Minnesota has the highest concentration of employees in the nation in the electro-medical device industry. And Minnesota's per capita exports of medical device products is 258% higher than the US average. * Minnesota boasts a grand total of around 1300 technology-intensive companies, according to the 1996-1997 Minnesota Technology Directory. * Minneapolis alone is home to 253 computer programming services, 99 computer-related services, 56 integrated systems design companies, 96 computer processing and data preparation companies, and 26 producers of pre-packaged software [according to numbers gleaned form the 1995 Minneapolis Metropolitan Business Directory]. This kind of industry growth, coupled with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, translates to sizzling career opportunities for high tech professionals. Return to Tech Talk