Florida is among the top 10 states in the nation where large tech firms find a majority of their employees, according to a new report. But when it comes to local education, Tampa Bay lags.
According to a survey by TonerGiant, Florida ranks at No. 9 nationally as a talent pool for 26 of the biggest tech companies in the nation, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google. More than 13,000 graduates from Florida universities work or have worked at a major tech firm since graduating, according to LinkedIn data analyzed by TonerGiant.
California, unsurprisingly, was the No. 1 state, with more than 68,000 of its graduates working at the large tech firms, followed by New York, with 39,000 of its graduates doing the same.
The study further broke down the hires of each tech company, with Amazon hiring Florida graduates more than any other tech company. Roughly 3,000 Florida graduates work for the online retailer giant. Apple has 1,556 Florida graduates, and Google closely follows with 1,439 graduates.
The data further broke down into which Floridian universities produced the most graduates to work for the large technology corporations. The University of Florida grabbed the top spot, with nearly 6.000 of its alumni getting hired for the positions. UF, founded in the 1850s, has long been seen as a top tech talent producer — its accelerator, called "The Hub," produces top startup companies.
The University of Central Florida and Florida State University followed it. Tampa Bay-based University of South Florida ranked No. 4, with 1,795 reported to work for the 26 tech companies. STEM-focused Florida Polytechnic University, based in Lakeland, did not make the list.
USF has been gaining on UF in recent years for its innovation.
In February 2021, USF announced that it had been granted 130 patents, closely following UF's 154. USF has its incubator program, USF Connect, which hosts technology and life science companies. There's also the upcoming Research and Innovation Center, which is slated to open at the end of this month.
