The downturn is being felt across the U.S. tech sector, not just in Utah. But the Beehive State is unique in that tech workers make up a larger percentage of the workforce than the national average, according to the— so a downturn in the tech sector here could hit harder than it might elsewhere.
About 400 job seekers shuffled in and out to meet with potential new employers — Zions Bank, MarketDial, Lucid, Overstock, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and others — or find unemployment resources with the state’s Department of Workforce Services, said Kori Ann Edwards, managing director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, which co-sponsored the event.
“It does seem like our community comes together in the hard times in a way that I think is unique,” Betts said.Utah is more heavily invested in tech than most other states, said Levi Pace, Kem G. Gardner Policy Institute’s senior research economist. According to the institute’s most recent analysis in 2018, 15.2% of all Utah jobs were either at a tech company or indirectly dependent on it.
During the pandemic, Washington said, many organizations embraced technology, and investors pushed money into growing companies filling the need COVID-19 created. All this investment happened as interest rates plummeted. “It’s still a great time to start a company, but maybe it’s not the best time to raise money for a company,” she said. “It might be a good time to bootstrap and really get to a product market fit before you start really expanding.”
Pace said Utah has a dearth of network, cyber security and systems engineers. The share of Utah workers in these jobs is lower than the national average — and was projected to grow faster than the national average this year. Edwards shared Washington’s optimism. She said the state’s strategy is to move workers like Jenna into similar roles at other Utah companies. She called it a “cross pollination” approach, and said the Silicon Slopes event was one way to introduce former tech employees to new industries that could use their skills.
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Did you mean downturn instead of downtown?
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