CLICK THROUGH TO FULL INFOGRAPHIC from Modis, focusing on the best IT jobs for growth.

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

The Greater Philadelphia area is home to the offices of technical industry giants such as Comcast, SAP AG, Unisys Corporation and Sungard Data Systems, among others, which hold the bulk of some 12,510 information technology jobs throughout the City of Philadelphia, according to 2010 American Community Survey data.

As U.S. Census data continues to be released, shaping funding and legislative redistricting, a new decade is always an opportunity to look to see just what a community looks like. Philadelphia’s tech community leaders are often considered entrepreneurs and freelancers but, truth be told, most of the IT jobs here are with the region’s big employers.

Below, more lessons to be had:

• Making up nearly two percent of all city jobs, IT industry positions have a median income of around $74,979 as of 2009—slightly more than double the median Philadelphia household income of $36,669.
• Most IT jobs in the city are in management and professional positions, though positions in sales, maintenance and repairs also claim a good share of industry workers. These positions include software engineers, support specialists, customer service representatives, system and network administrators, equipment installers and repair specialists.
• Of those positions, a great majority of industry employment — around 81 percent — comes from private companies. However, federal and state government offices also maintain a noticeable presence in the IT employment scene, claiming about nine percent of the city’s IT workers.
• Self-employment in the city’s IT industry is relatively low at less than two percent.
• In terms of gender, employment in the IT industry in Philadelphia is nearly equal for males and females at 51.1 percent and 48.9 percent, respectively. This proportioning is somewhat disparate from the city’s gender makeup, which as of 2009 consisted of 48.6 percent males and 53.2 percent females.
• Philadelphia’s IT job scene is somewhat small in comparison to other large U.S. cities like Washington, D.C. and behemoth New York City, with 19,102 and 126,976 information technology jobs as tabulated in 2009, respectively.
• The city still fosters a vibrant sector of up-and-coming technology companies, putting it among the nation’s 10 largest. However, the divide between big and biggest is extreme: in 2010, the region saw $431 million in VC deals (up from $79.6 million in 2006, but down from dot-com-infused 2000), compared to $8.5 billion in Silicon Valley and $2.5 billion in New England.
• Unemployment in the IT industry stands at 8.1 percent, which is somewhat lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.2 percent and significantly lower than Philadelphia’s 11.2 percent unemployment rate.
• In 2000, the year of the infamous dot-com bubble burst, IT jobs in the city totaled 18,491 positions. Industry jobs have slowly moved from the city or dissolved altogether since then, ultimately netting a 3.8 percent loss of IT positions.
• The 1990s was an even more vibrant decade for Philadelphia’s IT industry, with over 21,000 industry jobs that made up nearly 3 percent of the city’s career opportunities during that time period, though a movement toward more creative-based positions is clear.

Updated 2/9/11 @ 12:51 p.m.: In an earlier version of this story, an editor chose an inaccurate headline, though the reporting was correct. Women account for roughly 49 percent of city IT jobs.

The creative economies of Philadelphia are still small but jobs in those sectors held relatively stable during the build up to the Great Recession, according to a William Penn Foundation-funded report released last week. The creative economy included jobs like graphic designers and animators and spanned from 2006 to 2008.

Commissioned by the Mayor’s Office of the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy and its chief Gary Steuer, the Nutter administration quickly trumpeted the research as showing a vibrant creative community.

The report showed a region that spent money on the creative arts above the national average but was still behind in those sector jobs. More up to date numbers, which will reflect more of the pains from the current recession, are due out in the spring.

From Inquirer columnist Mike Armstrong’s take:

One-hundred people will lose their jobs with InterDigital, a King of Prussia-based wireless technology company, as the company closes further development of its SlimChip mobile broadband modem technology, according to a company press release.

That news was buried by the company’s announcement to expand its technology development and licensing business through targeted new investment in both cellular and non-cellular wireless technologies.

“The decisions made today will result in substantially higher levels of profitability for the company,” the press release said. InterDigital CEO William Merritt made the statement, perhaps unaware of how much that must burn one of his 100 now unemployed former employees. He is depicted above ringing the opening NASDAQ bell in the simpler times of November 2006.

Technology employment has been rough all around.

Due to their realignment, the company expects its core operating expenses, not including arbitration and litigation expenses, will decline by approximately $33 million  before taxes on an annualized basis compared to 2008.

The job cuts will be split among the company’s three locations, which are in King of Prussia, Melrose, N.Y.; and Montreal, the company said. The company employed 379 at the end of last year, according to its annual report.

It may not yet be as bad as the dot com bust of 2001, but tech industries are facing mounting employment pressure.

Country-wide, unemployment has raced past eight percent and, though in 2001 it reached seven, those unemployed in tech make up more than five percent of the industry, according to the most recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the Philadelphia region, the general unemployment number eclipsed seven percent, but within city limits, it is nearing nine.

News of tech job losses have been lost in a troubling economy, but they have come, most recently cuts by Franklin Electronic Publishers and United Technologies. In August, the startling news came that some 50,000 tech jobs had been lost nationwide in a single year. A recent poll showed the weakest employment outlook since 1982.

It may be dour news for the region, which has seen a growing buzz around its tech scene, including particular attention to developing as a green tech hub. Vice President Joe Biden was at the University of Pennsylvania last month to discuss just that.

It’s clear Philadelphia and the nation’s tech scene is bleeding. How directly that is affecting Philly’s tech scene isn’t as clear. It still might be worth brushing up on job-interview etiquette.