Ride the wave in the tech valley

A couple of weeks back, on my way to the office, I was delighted to hear an NPR news feature about how Phoenix is seeing tremendous growth in technology jobs.

By Raghu Santanam, Chair

A couple of weeks back, on my way to the office, I was delighted to hear an NPR news feature  about how Phoenix is seeing tremendous growth in technology jobs. Among other things, the story reports that “2015 saw a trend of technology companies and startups heading downtown, including Uber Technologies Inc., Galvanize, Allbound Inc., Gainsight Inc. and Inspire Data Solutions.”

This narrative about an increased level of enthusiasm with Phoenix as a technology hub is gaining ground, and shows up in some prominent research reports. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for IT professionals is very strong throughout the nation and is projected to grow at rate of 12 percent for the next decade.

More importantly, growth in IT jobs in Phoenix area has been robust and is projected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. According to “Tech-Thirty 2015,” a recent report from CBRE, Phoenix landed more technology jobs than Chicago, Boston, Austin, Los Angeles and Dallas. Overall, nearly 13,000 tech jobs came to Phoenix between 2012-2014. We feel like we are ready for this trend. We have nearly 600 information systems majors and 200 data analytics majors in our undergraduate programs.

We graduate nearly 120 Masters in Information Management (other universities use the name “management information systems”, “Information Technology Management” for similarly themed masters degrees) and more than 150 Masters in Business Analytics students every year. Our programs are highly ranked and have a great reputation among our employers and academic peers (see the separate story on rankings in this month’s features).

We want to continue to support our growing pool of high tech employers. A significant objective of our commitment to the local community is fulfilled when our alumni are employed by established and emerging stars in the technology world. Kudos to our recent grads who landed coveted positions locally and nationally! We look forward to seeing you back on campus to hear about your achievements and to mentor our current students.