The technology sector has trimmed its work force by 10 percent over the last two years, with manufacturing jobs bearing the brunt of the cuts, according to a new report.
The American Electronics Association (AEA), a trade group that represents 3,000 technology companies, said the U.S. high-tech industry shed about 560,000 jobs, reducing the number of jobs from a high of 5.7 million in January 2001 to 5.1 million in December 2002.
The AEA"s Tech Employment Update also found technology employment dropped every month during 2002.
"The turbulent economic climate facing the nation"s high-technology industry over the past two years has had a dramatic affect on technology employment," AEA CEO William Archey wrote in the report.
The high-tech manufacturing industry, once the country"s largest manufacturing sector, shaved 415,000 jobs and has been replaced by food product and transportation equipment manufacturers as the leading employers. Within that sector, electronics manufacturing lost the most jobs, followed by the computer equipment and computer manufacturing industries.