Analysis says Ohio losing high-tech jobs

Data compiled by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services showed that employment declined in 24 of 30 industries categorized by the state as both high technology and high wage, The Medina Gazette (http://bit.ly/WAnkB3) reported. The net loss over the decade totaled about 120,000 jobs. That's nearly a quarter of the approximately half-million employed in those industries in 2000.

While most of the high-tech industry sectors in Ohio are manufacturers, many lost jobs are in industries such as aerospace, chemical, computers, turbine and power transmission, electronics and medical devices.

And although workers in high-tech industries make up only about 10 percent of all Ohio workers, they earn middle-class wages, averaging nearly $67,000 a year in 2011.

The chief of workforce research for the Ohio Bureau of Labor Market Information says some jobs, such as maintenance and cleaning, may not have disappeared, but were outsourced to firms in the service sector.

"The job is still in the factory, but it's not counted as being in manufacturing anymore," Lewis Horner said.

Although Ohio's employment picture has improved overall in the last couple years, the state saw substantial job losses in the past decade. The six high-tech sectors that have grown — including software publishers, computer system design, drug and medicine manufacturing and colleges and universities — have hired few workers. Fewer than 27,000 new jobs were added statewide since 2000, Horner said.