There are jobs to be had in Colorado, but the salaries are slipping

By Sarah Mulholland
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A pair of hands type on a laptop computer keypad.
Elise Amendola/AP, File
FILE – A person works on a laptop on June 19, 2017. Colorado internet users can now download a free, state-approved web browser extension that tells any website they visit not to track their data. The new opt-out program was created through SB21-190, which took effect in July.

Colorado’s job vacancies ticked up slightly in the second quarter in a sign that hiring remains relatively stable, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.

At the same time, salaries declined by 1.4 percent, the chamber wrote in a report produced with Aspen Technology Labs, a data and recruitment technology company. Colorado ranks 19th when it comes to the number of available jobs relative to other states. It’s 15th for median salary, with a full-time employee earning $56,160 annually.  

Colorado is lagging when it comes to creating jobs in one conspicuous industry — artificial intelligence. Nationally, AI roles have jumped 34 percent from last year, according to the report. California’s AI jobs grew by nearly 84 percent. Meanwhile, Colorado’s AI job growth is less than 5 percent.

“Perhaps … Colorado employers are slow to focus on AI positions,” Aspen Technologies founder and president Mike Woodrow wrote in the report. “These insights are crucial for business owners and employers as they navigate the evolving job market and consider strategies for workforce development.”

Here are some other highlights from the report:

  • The category with the highest job vacancies is health care practitioners and technical occupations with 15,123 job openings.
  • Remote jobs are declining. Remote vacancies fell 10 percent from April to July.
  • The median part-time hourly salary declined from $18.50 to $18.32 from April to July.
  • The highest paying job titles were dentist and physician, with annual salaries of $274,997 and $248,997, respectively. Health care jobs accounted for half of the top 10 highest paid jobs.
  • Lawyers had the biggest salary increase during the second quarter, with median pay up $17,503.

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