Silicon Valley Employment Trends
September 2017
Silicon Valley job growth continued through the fourth quarter of 2016 – reaching an all-time high of 1.62 million workers – albeit at a slower pace than the rapid gains of the post-recession recovery period and subsequent booming growth-period of 2013-2015. Unemployment rates in May 2017 hit a low not seen since the dot.com boom. And although job growth continued, 2016 growth was uneven with respect to wage/skill levels, and the wage gap between Tier 1 and Tier 3 jobs continued to increase. Furthermore, although the Q4 2016 data indicates that the region’s “tech” jobs were on pace for nearly 4% growth over the past year, the actual growth rate will likely be lower than that due to large layoffs at some of the region’s major tech companies.
Charts/tables featured in this report:
- Figure 1. Total Silicon Valley Employment, 2001-2016
- Figure 2. Silicon Valley Labor Force, 2010-2017
- Figure 3. Monthly Unemployment Rate, 2000-2017
- Figure 4. Silicon Valley Employment by Tier
- Figure 5. San Francisco Employment by Tier
- Figure 6. Silicon Valley Employment Share by Tier
- Figure 7. San Francisco Employment Share by Tier
- Table 1. Yearly Earnings by Tier, Q1 2017
- Figure 8. Employment by Industry Category, 2007-2016
- Table 2. Silicon Valley Industry Employment
- Figure 9. Employment by Industry Category & Tier, Q4 2016
- Table 3. Silicon Valley Layoffs Effective 7/1/2016 – 6/30/2017
- Figure 10. Employment in Key Tier 2 Manufacturing