Help Wanted At Venture-backed Start-ups Across Multiple Industry Sectors

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov 18, 2009 -
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the online job board StartUpHire today published data which shows that venture-backed job openings cross multiple industry sectors across the United States.  With nearly 11,000 jobs listed at more than 2,500 companies nationwide, StartUpHire has partnered with the NVCA during this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week to celebrate the critical importance of entrepreneurs to the economy and to society.

Job Listings on StartUpHire by Industry as of 10/27/09      
   -   
Industry   Jobs Available   % of Total
Software   3148   29.46%
IT Services   2012   18.83%
Healthcare Services   806   7.54%
Business Products and Services   806   7.54%
Cleantech / Energy   528   4.94%
Biotechnology   446   4.17%
Networking and Equipment   443   4.15%
Consumer Products and Services   384   3.59%
Semiconductors   296   2.77%
Medical Devices and Equipment   288   2.69%
Media and Entertainment   280   2.62%
Retailing / Distribution   273   2.55%
Telecommunications   250   2.34%
Financial Services   249   2.33%
Computers and Peripherals   216   2.02%
Industrial   94   0.88%
Electronics / Instrumentation   93   0.87%
Other   75   0.70%
Grand Total   10687   100.00%


Most venture-backed jobs listed on StartUpHire are within the Information Technology sector. As of October 2009, 29.5% of the StartUpHire jobs are in the Software industry.  IT Services is second at 18.8%, followed by Healthcare Services and Business Products & Services, each at 7.5%.  Cleantech/Energy rounds out the top five industries at 5% of the jobs. Cleantech’s showing in the top five is telling as this emerging growth sector came in ahead of Telecom, Media, Semiconductors and Financial Services.  

Jobs in Life Sciences represent a combined total of 6.9% of all StartUpHire jobs (4.2% in Biotechnology and 2.7% in Medical Devices).  These jobs tend to be lower in total numbers but generally higher in salary.

“Venture capitalists focus on building companies in industry sectors of significant opportunity,” said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA.  “Cleantech, for example, is becoming increasingly attractive to venture capitalists because of the growing demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions.  Those industries that hold a concentration of venture-backed jobs today are strong indicators of what sectors will be poised for growth over the next ten years and beyond.”

“Job openings exist in a wide range of industries for those who relish the challenge, excitement, and upside of working for a venture-backed company,” said Steve Roberson, general manager of  StartUpHire.  “Companies which have survived the economic headwinds of the past year and are actively hiring are likely to be the success stories we read about in a few years.  With several thousand new job openings being created each month, the venture-backed ecosystem continues to be a strong engine of economic growth.”

Please visit the NVCA and StartUpHire websites each day this week to see more detail about job availability at venture-backed companies:

•   Tuesday, November 17 – venture-backed job openings in each state and region
•   Wednesday, November 18 – venture-backed job openings parsed by industry
•   Thursday, November 19 – venture-backed job openings listed by function (marketing, sales, etc.)
•   Friday, November 20 – release of start-up “short stories”: 140 character testimonials from venture-backed employers and employees.  Tell us your start-up story at www.startuphire.com/stories