geosearch.com Blog

In the third quarter of 2008, when the collapse of large financial institutions disrupted the economy of the entire globe, many in the geospatial community wondered how severe the impact would be on a sector where one third of the total revenue comes from the public sector and another third is strongly tied to construction activity.  However, it didn’t take long for the full impact of the crisis to be felt.  By November of that year, most geospatial hiring activity halted.  2009 represented historically low GeoSearch job board activity and this was consistent with low volume postings for geospatial titles internet wide.  Real estate sales, state budgets, and large commercial projects that fuel the geospatial sector declined.

In the second quarter of 2010 geospatial job postings and hiring activity started to stabilize. Opportunities for entry and mid-level surveyors, cartographers, photogrammetrists, and technicians housed in engineering, surveying, mapping, and other traditional services firms managed to produce marginal growth and hiring related postings increased.  2011 built on that momentum with new opportunities for mapping technicians and professionals involved in the application development and use of GIS.  Further, demand for digital mapmaking is on the rise due to the mobile market and social network demand for fast, accurate, and complete location based information and this will likely be the main source of continuing job growth.

Complementing hiring trends, Wage & Salary data has realized similar ebbs and flows. Analysis of the category and classification of “GIS Manager”, since that category has been used in all 20 GeoSearch Wage & Salary Surveys, a dramatic 9.5% drop in salary occurred in the 2008 data compared to the 2009 data. An upward trend is beginning to emerge but wages in this category haven’t returned to the 2007 high when the reported average was $81,581.

The state of the geospatial economy appears to be strengthening by both the increase in opportunities and annual salary reporting’s. In addition to openings from location based technology demand, job openings will continue to increase from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or who leave the labor force altogether.

***This blog is an excerpt from:

Executive Summery – GeoSearch, Inc. - 2011 Wage & Salary Survey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan 11, 2012 -

The “2011 Survey” marks the 20^th annual wage and salary survey GeoSearch, Inc. has compiled. The survey originated in an attempt to measure job categories that couldn’t be found in other surveys and it remains a unique source of geospatial compensation data. 133 geospatial employers participated in this year’s survey.  Participants included commercial companies and public agencies.  43.6% of participants employ fewer than 100 employees while 17.2% of participants employ over 1,000 employees. GeoSearch President Richard Serby states, “Since we measure data provided by organizations, rather than individuals, we believe the data is a more accurate snapshot of what actually exists in the marketplace.”

 

Modest gains in compensation was reported compared to the data reported the previous year.  For example, in the 2010 survey, a GIS Manager averaged $73,888 in annual wages.  In the 2011 survey, a GIS Manager averaged 75,799 in annual wages. This is an increase of 2.6%.  In this example, a GIS Manager is described as: Manages the GIS department; supervises GIS Specialists and Technicians; develops action plan for GIS development; acts as central communication point; acts as public information source; assists with integration of GIS into existing systems; prepares newsletters and makes presentations.  Typically reports to agency Director or Operations Manager. Typically requires B.S. degree in related field and five or more years’ experience.

 

Similarly, a Project Manager averaged $72,335 in the 2010 data compared with $73,288 in 2011 resulting in an increase of 1.3%.  The trend continued in most categories.  Ten total categories were surveyed in 2010 while twelve categories were surveyed in 2011, including a new category for LiDAR technicians.  Optimism about geospatial job growth is on the rise as confidence returns and salary trends should grow as competition for talent heats up with strong evidence of a recovering labor market in the US.  GeoSearch is now accepting orders for the 2011 Salary Survey. Cost is $130 and is ordered on-line at www.geosearch.com. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are accepted.

 

Although this data is believed to be reliable and accurate, GeoSearch cannot claim statistical validity.  While the GeoSearch Wage and Salary Survey is a valuable tool, it is strongly suggested that this information be used in conjunction with other known data sources and that local and community cost-of-living, competition from other industries, and related matters be factored in to the interpretation of any wage and salary data, including this survey.
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GeoSearch, Inc is a personnel recruitment firm specializing in the geospatial sciences and technologies. GeoSearch began operations in October, 1989. October 12th 1995 www.geosearch.com was registered on-line making it the first geospatial job board.

The interactive map for a milestone expected at the end of October can be found here: National Geographic

When the population of the world reached one billion for the first time around 200 years ago, it was a time of expansion and exploration in the United States and a time of warfare and turmoil in Europe. Governments were tasked with building better roads and canals. Hard times in Europe lured thousands to the new country and the growing United States population sent many people into new areas in search of land. The rate of births has been out pacing the rate of deaths continually since that time. The global population reached four billion in 1974, five billion in 1987, and six billion in 1999. With this new milestone, hopes are high. “Our world of 7 billion can have thriving, sustainable cities, productive labor forces that can fuel economic growth, youth populations that contribute to the well-being of economies and societies, and a generation of older people who are healthy and actively engaged in the social and economic affairs of their communities,” UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said in a new report. Migration & immigration continue around the globe and mapping the location of everything will continue to be in high demand.

Integrating GIS applications with internet operations is fast becoming the top project for many organizations. This has vamped up demand for developers that are needed to build scalable, powerful, and secure web/cloud based GIS applications. Governments and commercial operations are focused on the deployment and buildup of maps with strong security features, strong back-office integration features and supplemental advanced business logic tools. Visual Basic, C#, and ASP .NET programming with CADD, ESRI and/or Intergraph skills are hot! Further, the geospatial job market demand for technically strong Web application developers is on the rise. ArcGIS Online product development skill is hot in the GIS and Web mapping communities. Candidates with strong ESRI know-how can be software development programmers, product engineers, release managers, GIS professionals, and technical writers. The most popular cities include Houston, Texas – Washington, District of Columbia – Denver, Colorado – Atlanta, Georgia – San Francisco, California – Austin, Texas and Dallas, Texas.

At GIS in the Rockies 2011 you will find the GeoSearch booth #108 sandwiched between the Geocortex booth and the Higher Mapping Solutions (an Independent consultancy and development company offering custom solutions) booth. The conference is a forum for business, government, and academia to foster collaboration and education related to important topics, emerging trends and innovations across the geospatial community. Now that GIS is being used in emerging technologies for emergency response, knowledge systems in infrastructure, web-based location and communication, and mobile technologies the industry is poised for unlimited growth.

True to form, the theme of this year’s conference is “Emerging Technologies: Are you ready?”. Topics such as “Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry and Allied Geospatial Sciences and Technologies”, “The Value of fGIS”, “GIS and the Environment”, and “Open Source GIS” will be led by subject matter experts within the geospatial community that has evolved impressively.

On Thursday, September 1st a Student Breakfast will be held in the Garden Tent from 8:00 to 9:30. The GeoSearch founder and CEO Richard Serby will be discussing the state of geospatial employment in the current economy. He will touch on the “Hot Spot” locations for geospatial employment and the skill sets that are in demand. Topics will include the importance of professional associations, user groups, conferences, volunteer work, internships, and networking. Find out how to build an effective job search campaign.

Feel free to drop off a resume or ask for advice at our booth!

Over 50 leading geospatial companies were represented in New Orleans this week at The International LIDAR Mapping Forum 2011. LIDAR manufacturers, sensor manufacturers, survey service companies, data processing, GIS and management specialists and the latest mobile mapping technologies were showcasing new trends, the latest technology advances, and recent projects. On the exhibit floor, organizations involved in Airborne, Bathymetric LIDAR and/or Mobile Mapping Systems, including system and component manufacturers, operators and service companies discussed what they do and how they do it. At the social the show offered and featured some of the best jazz in New Orleans with a marching brass.

The LiDAR Workshop Series included discussions lead by Riegl LiDAR Applications, Tuck Mapping, MJ Harden (a GeoEye Company), Fugro Horizons Inc., Optech Inc., Merrick & Company, ESRI, Applanix Corp, LizardTech, Terrasolid, GeoCue Corp, Northrop Grumman, and Leica Geosystems.

GeoSearch noted an increased enthusiasm about the market performance at the end of 2010 and the expectations for 2011. Business is good and business is growing in this segment. Share your ILMF stories with us and contact us for professional recruiting services, contract staffing, or job advertisements.

Unprecedented environmental issues challenge today’s world. Every continent is dealing with climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. Therefore, international stakeholders (the scientific community, policy‐makers, industry leaders, the donor community, etc.,) are involved in certain stages of a solution based process.  However, efforts to reverse negative trends, and support sustainable and equitable development require coordination and cooperation at the global to regional to local level providing policy‐makers  with uniformed information with which to make appropriate decisions.

Uniformed standards, observations, measurements, scales, mandates, and geographic domains for environmental data and information would provide policy-makers and decision bodies the required tools needed to organize the abstract and fragmented data accumulating at numerous locations in various geographies.  It is crucial to build partnerships to support the collection, acquisition, and organization of this mounting environmental data.

Key stakeholder agreement and joint participation could produce a global environmental information network that would encourage integration of existing systems and networks, and build new ones where appropriate, to keep the world environmental situation under continuous objective review.  The Eye On Earth Summit – Abu Dhabi 2011 will convene the primary policy and technical experts from around the world.  The objective is to build consensus regarding the way forward, and establish mutual commitments for that unanimity.

A growing community of regional and international entities are convening in Abu Dhabi, in early 2011 to address this and other similar challenges.

The Eye On Earth Summit Abu Dhabi, will consist of a multi-track conference and exhibition, will involve the participation of high-level policy-makers, decision-makers and technical specialists from the international community, as well as governmental and non-governmental sectors.

Look for this event and others like it to increase geospatial recruiting in the Arabian Gulf!