2024-01-11 23:50:00
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) – Missouri’s tech industry is one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., according to an update to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Technology 2030 report.
Behind transportation and construction, the state’s tech industry saw the biggest growth over the last five years, adding more than 15,000 jobs and generating roughly one-tenth of the state’s economic output in 2021.
Ted Abernathy, who leads Economic Leadership, a firm that works with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a lack of available workers is arresting the sector’s growth.
“Nationally, economically, as a country, the biggest throttle on our growth isn’t public policies. We don’t have enough workers,” Abernathy said. “Even in Missouri, the number of job openings is still well in excess of the number of people that are available to work.”
Abernathy added the state experienced net-positive migration for the first time in roughly a decade in which that has occurred.
“Missouri is turning the corner, and more people are moving into the state than moving out,” Abernathy said.
Missouri tech jobs, on average, pay much higher, averaging $123,800 for a tech job to an average salary of $72,300 across all sectors, according to the report.
The report recommends the state focus some of its workforce development efforts on messaging among young people and making sure they have a clear, unobstructed pathway to these lucrative jobs.
The state’s tech sector also has a 38% turnover rate, one of the lowest in Missouri’s economy.
“More technology, STEM stuff in high school, more people with direct apprenticeships as they come out of college and internships,” Abernathy recommended.
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