Last year marked the first time in four years that Silicon Valley showed a net increase in jobs, according to a Joint Venture Silicon Valley study reported in the Wall Street Journal. The numbers weren’t impressive — about 2,000 new jobs. But the types created offered an intriguing look into the future.
Doug Henton, one of the savviest economic observers around, says the data “suggest ‘a new face of Silicon Valley,’ one that is moving away from an engineering-oriented economy to an idea-oriented one that demands highly creative people to produce technology that conveys an ‘experience,’ such as Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod digital music player.”