Get to Know Seattle’s Job Market

Northeastern opened its Seattle campus in 2012 to meet the needs of the city’s innovative technology sector—one that’s evolved to keep pace with the dawn of the information age.

Once known primarily for its aerospace industry, Seattle is now synonymous with a number of fields, including software development, information technology, biotechnology, the life sciences, global health, and nonprofits.

Not surprisingly, Seattle’s expanding industry base and corresponding rise in fortune has opened up a world of opportunity for creating and accelerating careers—drawing job seekers from around the world who want to experience its economic boom and vibrant lifestyle. More than 80 technology companies have opened offices in the city, including Google, Apple, Facebook, IBM, and Intel.

Some of the biggest opportunities in Seattle can be found in:

Information Technology

Seattle’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector alone contributes more than $3.5 billion to the city’s economy, according to the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. As of January 2017, there were nearly 11,000 computer science jobs listed for the Seattle area—the second highest number in the nation, according to job site Indeed.com. And the median salary for an entry-level software engineer in Seattle matches that demand, hovering around $94,000, according to PayScale.

Cloud computing also plays an integral part in the sector’s growth. By 2020, a shift to the cloud will affect more than $1 trillion in IT spending, according to Gartner. Seattle—recognized as “the cloud capital of the world,” thanks to companies like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure—is at the center. Sixteen percent of Seattle-area jobs currently advertised on Indeed.com request professionals with knowledge of cloud services, and the median advertised salary for cloud computing professionals in 2016 rang in at $124,300, according to Forbes. 

Biotechnology

Seattle is ranked fifth nationwide for biotechnology industry concentration, with 7,600 professionals working for one of the 55 companies in Seattle’s biotechnology sector, according to the Office of Economic Development.

Nonprofits

With approximately 37 percent of Washington State’s more than 58,000 nonprofits located in the Greater Seattle region, according to a Washington Nonprofits survey, job seekers who want to make a difference in the world have plenty of choices about where to make the greatest impact.

Despite the growth in these advanced, high-tech industries, only 13 percent of Seattle professionals hold graduate-level degrees. Visit our Seattle website to learn more about how you can stand apart when applying for your next role.