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San Antonio computes 80 percent growth in tech jobs from 2021-2022

San Antonio's tech job force is growing.

Courtesy of Port San Antonio

San Antonio’s stature as a hub for cybersecurity is boosting its profile as a hub for tech employment.

A new report from Dice, an online platform for tech professionals, shows San Antonio ranked sixth among major U.S. cities for the growth of tech job postings from the first half of 2021 to the first half of 2022. San Antonio registered an increase of 80 percent.

At No. 5, Houston was one notch above San Antonio, with an 83 percent growth rate for tech job postings. Dallas appeared at No. 15 on the list, recording a 58 percent growth rate for tech job postings. Austin failed to make the top 25 in this category.

Orlando, Florida, topped the list, boasting a 111 percent growth rate for tech job postings.

Dice notes that Austin and Dallas sometimes overshadow San Antonio in terms of tech employment. But it emphasizes San Antonio’s increasing importance as a hub for cybersecurity innovation.

A report from Tech Bloc, a citywide initiative aimed at growing San Antonio’s tech sector, shows the local IT industry generates an annual economic impact of nearly $11 billion, up 27 percent from 2010. Meanwhile, the number of IT companies in San Antonio jumped 36 percent from 2015 to 2020.

Much of that growth is being driven by the cybersecurity sector. San Antonio is home to more cybersecurity professionals than anyplace else in the U.S. other than Washington, D.C. Thus, San Antonio has adopted the identity of “America’s Cyber City.”

“The alignment of education, industry, and government within cybersecurity, and the ability to collaborate across these sectors, presents the city’s most significant opportunity for industry development,” Business Facilities magazine observed in 2020.

Business Facilities traces the roots of San Antonio’s cybersecurity presence to 1948, when the Air Force established its Security Service operations in Alamo City.

“To further develop San Antonio’s cybersecurity dominance, we’re focused on talent development tailored to industry needs in the cybersecurity industry,” Tom Long, managing director of the greater:SATX economic partnership, told the magazine. “It’s a strategy gaining attention and investment from cybersecurity operations large and small, as well as large corporations with significant internal cybersecurity hub operations.”

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Hold Your Horses

San Antonio City Council considers plan to phase out horse-drawn carriages

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A scant majority of San Antonians like the idea of ending the practice.

In a special session on Thursday, October 31, the San Antonio City Council will deliberate on possibly phasing out horse-drawn carriages. A proposal called "A Just Transition from Horse Drawn Carriages" has led to a one-to-three-year plan for replacing the horses with electric carriages.

An early project proposal in November of 2022 — written by District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran — laid out concerns for the horses' wellbeing, quoting the Animal Welfare Institute. Concerns included exposure to traffic and pollution, long periods standing and walking on hard surfaces, and extreme weather, among other things. In addition to the effect on horses, the request also mentioned environmental effects from slowed traffic.

It proposed completely stopping any new use of horse drawn carriages and letting any existing permits expire. The request also mentioned pedicabs as an alternative alongside the electric carriages, but the pedicabs seem to have fallen away from the public discourse.

Following up on the proposal, a city survey that concluded in August of 2024 found that of 50,476 respondents, a scant majority (51.98 percent) said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." Other options like changing hours and location of horse-drawn carriage use were unpopular, and 29.01 percent said they wanted to continue with the current system of use.

A majority of respondents (53.83 percent) had never ridden in a horse drawn carriage at all, and an strong majority of those survey takers cited the treatment of the horse as the reason they hadn't tried it. Those who had ridden on the carriages mostly liked it for the "historical and cultural experience," with examples including feeling nostalgic and learning about San Antonio's history.

The survey did not disclose how many of the people who rode on the carriages were tourists, but tourists made up 21.66 percent of respondents.

In addition to the survey, council members also unanimously voted on August 19, 2024, to have a plan drafted by city staff that would phase out the horse-drawn carriages in one to three years.

The only item on the special session agenda (aside from approval of minutes) is a briefing and possible action on the proposal, meaning that a decision is not guaranteed.

More information about city council meetings is available at sa.gov.

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