Bay Area unemployment rates have been the lowest in fifteen years. In particular, Santa Clara County’s rates are amongst the lowest in comparison to the other counties in the Bay Area, clocking in at a 3.8 percent unemployment rate as of early 2016. Also, in Santa Clara County 2,900 jobs were added within the tech industry producing a majority of those jobs. Many Tech companies are hiring contract employment which increases the rate individuals are being hired and gives engineers opportunities to acquire permanent positions at such tech companies. In the Bay Area, jobs grew by 2.7 percent from 2015 to 2016 beating the U.S by an average of 1.2 percent and California by .7 percent, according to the EDD (Employment Development Department Office).
Growth in employment opportunity with the decline of unemployment rates added can be credited to the expansion of many tech companies. For example, per Stephen Levy, Director of Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of California economy companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and LinkedIn are all scheduled for expansion. Facebook plans for expansion will bring in 6,550 new jobs, about 1 million square feet of office space, and even a hotel. While Linkedin and Google locked in a deal to switch properties in order for both companies to expand. This allows Google and Linkedin to add more jobs, without adding difficulties to housing and traffic, an efficient deal. Deals like these are occurring and further advancements are in the near future.
Expansion in the Tech industry is inevitable with so many company projects unfolding, but it’s not limiting its growth to just the Silicon Valley region. The global tech industry is currently valued at $5.3 trillion. Therefore, expansion is a necessity to keep on with an upward curve. Last year 34 tech companies expanded to 19 markets outside the typical tech centers. Also, nationwide tech diaspora is the importance of technology to almost all industries. Tech is providing opportunity in many places and the Silicon Valley continues to lead and be a model for development.
