Need work? Tech jobs booming in Charlotte

We hear a lot these days about how the economy's in the tank. Anybody with a job need only look around at the empty cubicles in the office to see how true that is. But not all employment sectors are struggling. Dice.com, a job search website for technology professionals, says its job postings in Charlotte are up 130 percent this year.

Go to the site and you'll see over a thousand help-wanted ads for tech jobs in the Queen City, from analysts to programmers to developers . While overall unemployment nationally stands at 9.5 percent, it's just 4.5 percent in the tech sector, says Dice.com Senior Vice President Tom Silver. While the broader picture's still not great," he said. "the demand for individuals with specific technical skills at companies like Google, companies like Oracle, companies like Microsoft, they're all hiring."

Tech companies that put projects on hold during the downturn are starting to crank them up again, he explained. He surmised that Charlotte might be seeing such a big increase because it's a relatively small tech jobs market and a hiring spree by one or two companies could cause a significant percentage bump.

My thought: if you've got a kid in high school or college, do whatever you have to to get them to take computer science courses. Silver, dad to a 19-year-old college kid, says he sure is.