. .

Technology Jobs Booming Like No Other Industry

Hiring in the technology sector is gaining momentum.

Among U.S. technology companies with a market value of more than $100 million, almost 50 increased employment by more than half in the most recently reported two-year period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some small and midsize businesses boosted payrolls by almost fivefold, underscoring the resilient demand for Internet services, software and electronics.

Rohit Dhingra is one face behind the statistics. He went to Columbia Business School in New York so he could land a consulting job. Instead, he got hired by a company making computer gear in Silicon Valley.

"A few years back, it just would have been a slam dunk that you want to do investment banking," Dhingra said. "The future of financial services does not seem as bright."

Dhingra is joining thousands of workers who have switched to technology careers during the economic slump, lured by an industry that kept hiring while other businesses cut jobs or forced current employees to take heavier burdens.

While the broader unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent in December, reaching a three-year low, few companies outside of technology have as voracious an appetite for workers. In the software and services industry, 74 companies with more than $100 million in market value expanded their workforce by at least 10 percent. That was more than any other industry group measured by Bloomberg.

Apple, Google and Amazon.com were among the companies that increased their workforce by at least 50 percent in the past two years, Bloomberg's data showed. The growth has prompted Silicon Valley companies to consider more people from nontechnical backgrounds and ramp up recruitment everywhere from Wall Street to Seattle. Workers who would have shied away from the volatility of 1990s-era startups are seeing the technology industry as a haven of stability.

Read more: San Francisco Chronicle Technology jobs booming like no other industry