Pittsburgh not trendy enough? Then why not apply for the post of interaction designer at Google New York, the senior network engineer at Apple, California, or as a software developer at online bookseller Amazon, in Seattle... or hundreds of other high and lower profile jobs in the industry?

The problem is that there are thousands of IT jobs in the United States needing to be filled, with 85,000 in one job board alone. Clearly, the skills crisis ailing the IT industry isn’t exclusive to Australia.

Despite this manpower issue, states like Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is located, are pushing ahead with an aggressive US$2.8 billion plan to attract more high-tech companies and generate more jobs. They are also actively recruiting worldwide and thinking outside the square to motivate young people to take up IT as a career.

In the last five years, Pennsylvania has attracted more than 780 new IT projects and companies to the area, creating in excess of 82,000 new jobs.

Rebecca Bagley, deputy secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, says there are currently 210,000 high-tech workers earning a total of US$15.1 billion annually in the state.

“It’s one of our very important sectors and we are recruiting nationally and internationally including in Australia,” says Bagley.

She says it should not be difficult to attract professionals to this, the nation’s 7th biggest “cyber state”, because people like to live not only where they can hold stimulating jobs, but also where they can have fun, raise families and have quality of life, something Pennsylvania promises to offer aplenty. (Continue to Page 2)