When an operatic tenor, a Scrantonian and a social worker walk into a tech jobs fair in Philadelphia, it’s not because they like free company swag — they’re lured by the bustling tech industry, which since 2013 has expanded to include 8,060 new jobs in the Philly area.

Per a review of publicly available federal data amassed by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia — an update to its 2016 report on the subject — tech occupations in the city account for 5 percent of the area’s net job growth since 2013. Tech jobs account for 3.5 percent of the region’s available jobs in 2017.

Nick Frontino, the think tank’s managing director, said the review of data depicts a tech market with around 100,000 people — 99,620 to be precise — who are employed at tech companies large and small. More and more verticals of industry, he said, are contributing jobs to that count: From retail to finance, most companies are now in need of technologists in their midst.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE