The battered US high-tech industry lost more than half a million jobs from January 2001 to December 2002, putting 10 per cent of its employees out of work, according to an industry report.
The industry has lost jobs every month since March 2001, shrinking to 5.1 million workers in December 2002, from 5.7 million in January 2001, said AEA (American Economic Association), the nation's largest high-tech trade group, representing more than 3,000 member companies.
Last year alone, high-tech employment fell by 2,36,000, revealed the study released on Wednesday by the Washington-based trade association. The study was based on monthly employment data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Largest job losses occurred in the high-tech manufacturing sector, which lost 415,000 jobs or a 20 per cent drop, between the period under study.
The nation's communications services industry saw a nine per cent decline in its employment base with a loss of 1,35,000 jobs during the same period.
The job cuts were largely due to decline in demand for high-tech products and the growing practice of sending manufacturing work overseas, AEA president and CEO William T Archey said.
"The data would strongly suggest that there is need for economic stimulus including the President's package and specific proposals backed by the high-tech industry, such as the Homeland Investment Act, and others," he said.
However, Archer pointed out that with AEA's member companies receiving more than half their revenue from overseas markets, the industry won't recover without a global economic recovery.
The report also revealed that food products and transportation equipment manufacturing now employ more workers than the high-tech manufacturing industry, which had been the largest manufacturing sector in the United States.
"On the positive side, software services actually increased by 5,300 jobs," Archey said. "This is consistent with the fact that many of the innovations in the high-tech industry are driven by software."
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