Based on recent data from various sources, it appears the tech industry has a rosier employment picture than many other sectors.

According to a report out this week from TechAmerica, formed in December by the merger of AeA and the Information Technology Association of America, tech sustained only a 0.6% drop in employment, or 38,000 jobs, in Q4 2008 when total private-sector employment declined by 1.3%.

And the 0.6% drop didn't stop the sector from adding jobs in 2008 overall. TechAmerica reported that the high-tech industry added 77,000 net jobs last year, for a total of 5.9 million workers. 

To be true, TechAmerica also reported that while the 2008 tech job growth dipped compared to the 79,600 jobs added in 2007, it was notably down from the 139,000 jobs added in 2006 and the 87,400 jobs added in 2005. Further, the semiconductor industry lost the most jobs of any tech manufacturing sector, 10,900, in 2008.

And Dice.com this week also reported that as of April 1 there were more than 51,000 available tech jobs on its boards, down slightly from the 54,000 available as of March 2.

On a personal note, I've received a handful of calls from recently laid off semiconductor industry execs, reps, or EEs that I've worked with in the past saying they'd like to put me down as a reference for a job application. A handful may sound like a small number of calls, but it sure beats the dozens of calls I received in Q4 when friends and colleagues were being let go in massive amounts.

There's also been notable talk about the stimulus package and what it could do to grow green tech and associated job growth. I'm hesitant to hitch my wagon to this star. While many of the technologies supporting the movement are solid, green has become this buzzword that is relied upon by politicians and companies in the tech space to inspire an uplifting attitude. In a conversation with Freescale CTO Lisa Su recently,  she put it very well when she said, "I don't like to over use things and I think sometimes we do. Sometimes I feel like we attach too much to green." I agree and also note that if there is job growth from green tech pushed by the stimulus package, it will most likely be slow to climb.

Meanwhile, focuses outside of green are seeing immediate job growth. Dallas-based spatial light modulating chipmaker Syndiant, for example, recently announced an increase in headcount after receiving funding from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The company said its new employees will be focused on its pico projector technology, a growing opportunity within consumer electronics.

All of this is in no way meant to downplay the fact that the US national unemployment is at a 25-year high, with March showing another 663,000 jobs lost and an unemployment rate of 8.5%. Nor is it meant to sugar coat the rocky career environment specific to EEs and the semiconductor industry.

But the personal notes I've collected and the Dice and TechAmerica data does say that tech, albeit rocky, is a better place to be than some other sectors. At least that's my perspective. What do you think? Is tech employment faring better than other sectors? Are you starting to see a rosier job picture? And if you had it to do again, would you still enter a tech career? Share your thoughts below.