State can't compete with private firms on tech employee pay

LANSING –

Ranee Bradish said she's been wooed repeatedly by potentially more lucrative firms, but each time she's elected to stay in state government.

The 36-year-old Lansing-area web designer said part of the reason she'd stayed with the state Department of Technology, Management & Budget is because, working there, "you get to impact people's lives."

As governments in Lansing and elsewhere struggle to recruit competent information technology professionals, they're hoping there are many more people like Bradish. High demand for talented techies is driving salaries higher than most states can pay, leaving the chance to hack for the public good as capitals' chief selling point.

It's an especially pertinent challenge in Michigan, a state led by a tech-executive-turned-governor who's made cybersecurity and open data a priority. David Behen, DTMB director and the state's chief information officer, said he has between 25 and 50 open IT positions at any given time, and that can make it tougher to accomplish key tasks.

"Do I stay up at night worrying about this stuff? Absolutely," said Behen, who cofounded a software company before joining Gov. Rick Snyder's administration in 2011. "Do we miss major goals? We haven't yet, but it doesn't mean we won't."

In state government, missing goals can mean more than a late product launch.

Behen's department battles 730,000 attacks a day on servers that contain information on all 10 million Michiganders, from birth and other health records to tax information to school performance data. A few months ago, hackers were able to shut down the Michigan.gov website for about 25 minutes.

The state employs about 1,800 IT workers, most of them in DTMB, who keep more than 58,000 state computers running.

But Michigan is among the 86% of state tech departments struggling to recruit IT employees, especially in cybersecurity positions, according to a report out last monthfrom the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

And 92% of states blamed their inability to offer competitive salaries.

Behen said his department is competing with firms in "hot IT areas" such as Grand Rapids and Southeast Michigan, where "there's such a demand for these skills and the talent is not being turned out fast enough." But he said he tries to sell recruits on the "rewarding opportunities that come with working in public service."

If he can convince folks of that, he said, on pay, "we just need to be in the ballpark."

'Impacts millions of people'

The state is probably in the ballpark, though maybe in the cheap seats.

Average pay for a state IT employee wasn't immediately available, but their yearly wages range from $35,630 to $92,186, according to the state Civil Service Commission. That makes the median about $53,000.

But the average pay for computer and math occupations in metro Lansing is $65,420 a year, and the average software developer here makes more than $83,000, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In Ann Arbor, the average computer job pays more than $71,000. In Detroit, it's nearly $78,000.

"I can't compete with the private sector, in most cases," Behen said.

Instead, when he visits colleges or career fairs looking for recruits, Behen talks about how government techies do work that "impacts millions of people."

That could have some sway with Millennials, who are both more tech-savvy and service-conscious than previous generations.

More than 70% of universities' Class of 2014 said community service was an important factor when they look for jobs, according to the most recent survey from the National Association of Colleges & Employers. Only 52% said the same about a high starting salary.

'The next Silicon Valley'

Behen also pitches a great work-home life balance and the chance to work on a variety of projects.

While a software developer at a private firm might spend all their time on one new app, a similar employee at the state could work on software in public safety, health, the environment or agriculture. He said state employees will likely work with the same gadgets as private companies, from mobile to wearable tech, as those advances change how people expect to receive services.

The state offers a student IT position, with starting pay at about $17,000 a year, which can offer kids a broad range of experience to take with them to the private sector in the future. He said the state already does a lot of outreach to universities, but he'd like to partner more with high schools and community colleges.

DTMB will never near the allure of Apple, Google or Facebook, and Michigan's winter wonderland can be a downer compared to California's sunny climes. Plus, the average pay for computer jobs in California is $99,450, higher than the maximum pay in state government.

But Behen notes that the cost of living is higher out west, and federal data shows computer jobs growing faster in Michigan, especially Detroit, than in California.

"Detroit and Southeast Michigan has the opportunity to be the next Silicon Valley," he said.

'I love the job'

Bradish, the web designer, works in a trendy-looking room on an upper floor at the Romney Building downtown, across the street from the Capitol.

It's scrapped together with hand-me-down furniture, but the room looks like a collaborative workspace one might see at Microsoft or Twitter. Designers work together at a big table, each with multiple monitors. There are writable walls for brainstorming and cozy furniture surrounding a large monitor to encourage groupthink.

Bradish has worked for DTMB about eight years. She'd been in marketing but was looking for a career change after going back to school.

"I love the job," she said last week. "It's fun, creative, there's an opportunity to be innovative. It's challenging."

She's spoken to college classes, and she said young people don't always think of government jobs as a career possibility, but they should. Her work is about more than making websites look sharp, it's about helping people more easily access government services.

Bradish is part of a team working on software that will allow residents to personalize their experience at Michigan.gov, so people who regularly interact with multiple state agencies can sign on to a sort of one-stop-shop.

One of the reasons she's turned away those private-sector headhunters, Bradish said, is because at DTMB, "We have to prioritize our decision-making process on, 'How does this help our citizens?'"

Lansing State Journal reporter Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at jhinkley@lsj.com.

Recruiting IT employees, by the numbers

•86%: Share of states struggling to recruit information technology professionals

•92%: Share of states who say an inability to offer competitive salary is hurting recruitment

•66%: Share of states who say IT shortfalls is holding them back from achieving strategic goals

•67%: Share of states who say cybersecurity is the skillset they're most struggling to attract

•50%: Share of states' IT employees who have delayed retirement to help with shortages

Source: National Association of State Chief Information Officers

Paying IT employees

Average pay for information technology employees in Michigan state government wasn't immediately available, but yearly wages range between $35,630 and $92,186. Below is a look at the average pay in computer and mathematics fields for each area.

AVERAGE COMPUTER-JOB PAY

METRO LANSING

$65,420

Metro Ann Arbor

$71,060

Metro Detroit

$77,580

Michigan

$72,770

California

$99,450

Source: Michigan Civil Service Commission, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics