South Florida’s emerging technology story
Bottom Line: Ten years ago, South Florida and Silicon Valley seemed about as far apart from one another as the geography would suggest. The tri-county area wasn’t in the top 20 for technology investment and most people who grew up in South Florida had to leave the area for good paying jobs – especially in technology. After the recession a lot began to change. Five years ago, South Florida began to emerge as a top 20 player for technology investment and we began to see companies like Google, Uber and Amazon invest in Florida, and often South Florida. The trend has only continued to grow and according to the just released report for technology investment – only ten metros beat out South Florida last year.
According eMerge Americas more than $1.4 billion in new technology investment made its way to into Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2018. While this is good news today it portends even better news for the continued diversification of the labor market going forward. For eventually successful technology companies, years 2-3 tend to be the biggest ramp up for hiring. This means that 2020 should be a great year for tech jobs in South Florida and if we can keep this trend going – it's exciting to see what will continue to emerge in South Florida going forward.
The average salary in the technology sector in major cities is $135,000 per year. This a lot of room for growth in South Florida – especially for companies looking to expand into Latin America. Stand by for more good news...