Period	Month	Unemployment Rate	Employment Level	Unemp. YoY Δ	Emp. YoY Δ	Status
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WAGE INTELLIGENCE · BLS OEWS · MAY 2024

What Miami Actually Pays

Median wages across 22 major occupational groups in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach MSA, benchmarked against U.S. national averages. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 survey.

$31.88Miami Mean Hourly

$32.66US National Mean

−2.4%Miami vs. US Gap

22Occupational Groups

Miami Outperforms

5 Sectors

Pay above US average

Miami Underperforms

13 Sectors

Pay below US average

Biggest Deficit

−$7.26/hr

Legal occupations

Biggest Surplus

+$3.87/hr

Protective service

Miami vs. U.S. Mean Hourly Wage — All Occupational Groups

Miami vs. US Mean Hourly Wage by Occupational Group BLS OEWS May 2024 · Sorted by Miami wage (descending) · Dashed line = US national average ($32.66)

Miami Wage Gap vs. US ($/hr) Green = Miami pays more · Red = Miami pays less than national average

Miami Employment Concentration vs. US Location quotient — values above 1.0 mean Miami has higher share than national

Occupational Wage Table — Miami MSA vs. U.S. National

Occupational Group	Miami Mean ($/hr)	US Mean ($/hr)	Gap ($/hr)	Miami Annual	Miami % of Jobs
Management	$64.23	$68.15	−$3.92	$133,600	7.6%
Legal	$58.93	$66.19	−$7.26	$122,570	1.7%
Computer and Mathematical	$52.65	$56.16	−$3.51	$109,510	2.4%
Healthcare Practitioners & Technical	$49.32	$50.59	−$1.27	$102,590	6.5%
Architecture and Engineering	$45.60	$49.99	−$4.39	$94,850	1.0%
Business and Financial Operations	$44.68	$45.04	−$0.36	$92,930	7.1%
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$40.69	$43.12	−$2.43	$84,640	0.5%
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports & Media	$32.97	$37.04	−$4.07	$68,580	1.4%
Protective Service	$33.20	$29.33	+$3.87	$69,060	3.4%
Educational Instruction and Library	$28.29	$31.69	−$3.40	$58,840	4.4%
Community and Social Service	$28.28	$30.31	−$2.03	$58,820	1.3%
Construction and Extraction	$28.60	$30.73	−$2.13	$59,490	3.9%
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$28.35	$29.63	−$1.28	$58,970	4.1%
Sales and Related	$26.90	$26.00	+$0.90	$55,950	11.0%
Transportation and Material Moving	$24.22	$23.44	+$0.78	$50,380	8.5%
Office and Administrative Support	$23.41	$24.12	−$0.71	$48,690	13.6%
Production	$21.79	$24.08	−$2.29	$45,320	3.0%
Healthcare Support	$19.70	$19.06	+$0.64	$40,980	3.2%
Personal Care and Service	$18.50	$18.95	−$0.45	$38,480	2.0%
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$17.66	$17.32	+$0.34	$36,730	9.8%
Building and Grounds Cleaning	$17.55	$19.01	−$1.46	$36,500	3.3%
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$16.81	$20.06	−$3.25	$34,970	0.2%

Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 survey. Published April 25, 2025. Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL MSA (CBSA 33100). Mean hourly wages; annual wages calculated at 2,080 hours/year. National estimates reflect all U.S. workers in each occupational group.

Forward Intelligence · 2026

AI Job Exposure Miami Metro

Which Miami job categories face the greatest AI automation risk — and which companies are actively growing their headcount right now. Data sourced from BLS OEWS, Microsoft AI Applicability Research, and Miami startup funding signals.

127,260

Miami Jobs at Risk

447K+

Florida Jobs Exposed

44%

Peak AI Score (Cust. Svc)

2026

Data Vintage

AI Job Exposure Map — Miami Metro

High Exposure (40%+) Medium Exposure (30–39%) Lower Exposure (<30%)

Top 5 Exposed Roles — Miami MSA

Ranked by AI exposure score · Source: BLS OEWS + Microsoft AI Applicability Study (2026)

Customer Service Representatives 65,550 workers

AI Exposure Score: 44% · Avg Wage: $42,460 · High Risk

Management Analysts 21,480 workers

AI Exposure Score: 35% · Avg Wage: $107,670 · Medium Risk

Counter & Rental Clerks 9,350 workers

AI Exposure Score: 36% · Avg Wage: $49,340 · Medium Risk

Personal Financial Advisors 7,180 workers

AI Exposure Score: 35% · Avg Wage: $169,270 · Medium Risk

Public Relations Specialists 5,530 workers

AI Exposure Score: 36% · Avg Wage: $72,880 · Medium Risk

AI Exposure by Sector — Miami Economy

Sector-level risk assessment based on task automation applicability · 2026

Sector	Miami Workers	AI Risk Level	Primary Driver
Hospitality & Tourism	~280,000	High	Concierge, front desk, booking automation
Financial Services	~95,000	High	Advisory, compliance, reporting automation
Contact Centers / BPO	~65,550	High	Customer service AI (44% exposure score)
Healthcare	~220,000	Medium	Admin/billing tasks; clinical roles protected
Real Estate	~45,000	Medium	Listings, research, document processing
Construction & Trades	~180,000	Lower	Physical labor largely AI-resistant near-term
Technology / Software	~55,000	Emerging	Code generation augments but reshapes roles
Creative / Media	~30,000	High	Generative AI disrupting content production

Data Sources & Methodology: AI exposure scores are derived from Microsoft's Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI study, cross-referenced with BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach MSA. Scores represent task-level automation applicability — not predicted job loss. Coverage = share of tasks AI can assist; Completion = rate AI can fully perform tasks end-to-end. Miami metro accounts for approximately 127,260 of Florida's 447,170 AI-exposed jobs (Feb 2026 estimate).

Underlying Data — Visualized

Total At-Risk Workers

127,260

Miami MSA jobs with high or medium AI exposure score

Highest Exposure Role

44%

Customer Service Reps — 65,550 workers at $42,460 avg wage

Avg Wage — High Risk Jobs

$54,890

Weighted average across the 5 most-exposed occupations

Sectors at High Risk

4 of 8

Hospitality, Finance, BPO, and Creative/Media rated High

AI Exposure Score by Role

Horizontal bar · % of tasks AI can perform end-to-end · Top 10 Miami occupations

Workers at Risk vs. Avg Wage

Bubble size = number of workers · X = avg wage · Y = AI exposure score

Miami Workforce by AI Risk Level

Donut chart · Share of total Miami metro workforce by risk category

Sector Risk Profile — Miami Economy

Radar · 8 sectors scored across AI exposure, worker count, wage level, and growth trajectory

Workers at Risk by Sector — Breakdown by Risk Level

Stacked bar · High / Medium / Lower exposure workers per Miami sector · Estimated from BLS OEWS 2024

HIRING SIGNALS · SOUTH FLORIDA

Where the Capital Is Moving

Companies that have recently raised funding are the strongest leading indicator of near-term job creation. These are the South Florida companies actively expanding headcount right now — sourced from public funding announcements, job posting velocity, and growth indicators.

10Active Signals

$8B+Capital Raised

7Sectors Covered

2026Data Vintage

Hot Signal (Series B+, recent raise) Warm Signal (Series A / PE-backed) Steady Signal (Restructuring / Organic growth)

Funding Activity Timeline

Q4 2025BrightlineOrlando expansion — $2.5B infrastructure phase

Q3 2025Kaseya$6.2B valuation — Insight Partners & Temasek

Q3 2025Magic LeapEnterprise AR pivot — healthcare & defense contracts

Q2 2025Reef Technology$700M+ Series C+ — logistics network expansion

Q2 2025ChewyPlantation HQ expansion — tech & fulfillment hiring

Q1 2025LennarMiami HQ — PropTech division buildout

Q1 2025PipePost-restructure rebuild — AI-augmented team

Q4 2024Carnival CorpMiami HQ — digital transformation initiative

Q4 2024Rokk3rAI-native venture studio — portfolio co-founding

Q3 2024UKGWeston, FL — HCM platform expansion

Active Hiring Signals

Brightline

Transportation · Rail · Infrastructure

📈 $2.5B Expansion Phase

Florida’s private intercity rail operator expanding Miami–Orlando–Tampa. Major infrastructure buildout driving sustained hiring across operations, technology, hospitality, and corporate functions.

Actively hiring — Operations, Tech, Hospitality, Corporate

Kaseya

IT Management · SaaS · MSP

💰 $6.2B Valuation · PE-Backed

Miami-headquartered IT management platform serving MSPs globally. Consistently one of Miami’s largest tech employers with ongoing engineering, sales, and support hiring across all levels.

Actively hiring — Engineering, Sales, Customer Success

Reef Technology

Logistics · Last-Mile · Urban Infrastructure

📈 Series C+ · $700M+

Miami-headquartered proximity-as-a-service platform operating parking, logistics, and delivery hubs. Strong signal for operations, tech, and driver-facing roles.

Actively hiring — Operations, Logistics, Tech

Chewy

E-Commerce · Pet · Fulfillment

📈 Plantation HQ Expansion

Plantation, FL-headquartered pet e-commerce giant expanding its South Florida tech and fulfillment footprint. Growing data engineering, customer experience, and supply chain teams.

Hiring — Data Engineering, Product, Customer Experience

Magic Leap

Spatial Computing · AR/MR · Enterprise

📈 Enterprise Pivot · Defense & Healthcare

Plantation, FL-based spatial computing company pivoting to enterprise AR in healthcare, manufacturing, and defense with strong DoD contract pipeline.

Hiring — Hardware Eng, Software, Enterprise Sales

Lennar

Real Estate · PropTech · Construction

🏠 Miami HQ · PropTech Division

America’s largest homebuilder building out a PropTech division focused on AI-driven home buying, mortgage automation, and smart home integration.

Hiring — Software Eng, Data, Product, UX

Carnival Corporation

Hospitality · Travel · Digital Transformation

🛥️ Miami HQ · Digital Initiative

World’s largest cruise company undergoing a major digital transformation. Building out data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and guest experience tech teams.

Hiring — Cybersecurity, Data, Cloud, UX

UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)

HCM · Workforce Tech · SaaS

💰 Weston HQ · Platform Expansion

Weston, FL-based HR and workforce management platform expanding its AI-powered HCM suite and growing South Florida engineering and sales teams.

Actively hiring — Engineering, Implementation, Sales

Rokk3r

Venture Studio · AI-Native · Tech

🌱 Active Portfolio Co-Founding

Miami’s leading AI-native venture studio co-founding and staffing new companies across fintech, health tech, and enterprise AI.

Hiring — Engineering, Product, Operations (portfolio-wide)

Pipe

Fintech · Revenue Finance · B2B

🌱 Post-Restructure Rebuild

Miami fintech rebuilding with a leaner, AI-augmented team. Strong signal for senior engineering and finance roles in a high-ownership environment.

Hiring — Senior Engineering, Finance, Sales

Active Signals by SectorCompanies with active hiring signals per sector

Roles Most In DemandAggregated hiring role categories across all 10 signals

Signal Disclaimer: Hiring signals are based on publicly available funding announcements, company growth indicators, and job posting activity as of early 2026. This is not a real-time job board — it is a directional signal of which South Florida companies are in active growth phases. Verify current openings directly on company career pages.

Deep Dive Report · 2026

The Great Reshuffling
How Entry-Level Tech Roles Have Transformed

A deep analysis of six key technology functions reveals a dramatic shift in skills, responsibilities, and expectations for entry-level professionals between the late 2010s and the mid-2020s. The rise of cloud computing, AI, and data-driven decision-making has reshaped the tech talent landscape.

Roles Analyzed

~2010–18

Historical Baseline

2026

Current Standard

14+

Real Job Postings

Filter by Role

📊

Data Analyst

From Reporter to Oracle

Radical Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The Reporting Layer

The entry-level Data Analyst was primarily a reporting function. Their world was defined by structured data, historical analysis, and translating business questions into SQL queries. The core job was to look at what had happened and present it clearly.

SQL querying from relational databases (SQL Server, Oracle)

Excel mastery — pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, macros

BI dashboarding in Tableau, QlikView, or SSRS

Descriptive analytics — KPI reporting

Basic ETL support for data warehouse teams

SPSS or SAS (optional, rarely required)

✦ 2026 Standard

The Data Plumber + Analyst Hybrid

Today's analyst actively builds the infrastructure they analyze. A recent Tetra Tech posting reveals expectations that collapse multiple traditional roles into one hybrid position — analyst, engineer, and data steward simultaneously.

Pipeline orchestration — building and maintaining data pipelines

ETL/ELT logic design and implementation

Python (Pandas, NumPy) — now a core, not optional, skill

Handling unstructured data (text, logs, non-tabular formats)

Data governance and institutional knowledge documentation

Power BI / Tableau / Spotfire + SQL + Python simultaneously

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
BI Analyst	✓ Yes — Full
Data Engineer (Junior)	◑ Partial
Data Steward / Governance	◑ Partial
Process Improvement Analyst	✓ Yes — Full

Mid-2010s

"A Data Analyst described what happened."

2026

"A Data Analyst builds the systems that describe what happened, ensures the data is trustworthy, and automates the entire process."

🛡️

Cybersecurity Analyst

From Guard to Hunter

Radical Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The Perimeter Gatekeeper

The entry-level analyst was a reactive, compliance-driven gatekeeper. The role focused on maintaining defensive perimeters, managing access, and responding to alerts from on-premise security tools.

Firewall and IDS/IPS log monitoring

Active Directory access control management

Endpoint antivirus deployment and management

Vulnerability scanning with Nessus

PCI DSS / SOX compliance audits

Basic SIEM console monitoring (pre-defined alerts)

CompTIA Security+ as gold standard cert

✦ 2026 Standard

The Active Threat Hunter

The perimeter has dissolved. A Havertys Furniture and FIS posting reveal a proactive, cloud-native role that absorbs responsibilities formerly held by senior SOC analysts and incident responders.

Active incident response lifecycle — triage, containment, remediation

Cloud security — AWS, Azure, or GCP security controls

Modern SIEM/EDR — Splunk, Sentinel, CrowdStrike

Web Application Firewall (WAF) — now primary attack surface

SOAR automation scripting (Python, Go, or Rust)

Basic ML/AI for anomaly detection and threat analysis

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
Security Administrator	✓ Yes — Full
SOC Analyst (Tier 1/2)	✓ Yes — Full
Incident Responder (Junior)	◑ Partial
Compliance Analyst	✓ Yes — Full
Security Engineer (Junior)	◑ Partial

Mid-2010s

"A Cybersecurity Analyst guarded the castle walls."

2026

"A Cybersecurity Analyst hunts for threats inside and outside the castle, understands how the castle is built in the cloud, and helps automate its defenses."

💻

Software Engineer

From Coder to Product-Builder

Major Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The Siloed Craftsman

The entry-level engineer was hired to write code within a well-defined specification. The role was siloed — separate teams handled QA, deployment, and product management. Success meant translating specs into functional code.

Deep proficiency in one language (Java, C++, or C#)

IDE mastery — Eclipse, Visual Studio, NetBeans

Centralized version control — SVN or TFS

Basic SQL for database interaction

Desktop or monolithic web development

Limited scope — coding only, no QA or Ops ownership

✦ 2026 Standard

The Full-Lifecycle Product Owner

A Giga and Stripe posting reveal an engineer who owns features from conception to deployment. DevOps, cloud infrastructure, and product-led growth have collapsed the assembly line into an integrated, end-to-end process.

Full lifecycle ownership — design, dev, test, deploy, maintain

Polyglot stack — React, Node.js, Python simultaneously

CI/CD pipelines — GitHub Actions, Jenkins

Cloud-native by default — AWS, GCP, or Azure

Automated testing — unit, integration, E2E

Direct customer interaction and product sense required

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
Software Developer	✓ Yes — Full
QA Engineer	✓ Yes — Full
DevOps Engineer (Junior)	◑ Partial
Product Manager (Junior)	◑ Partial
UI/UX Designer (Awareness)	✓ Yes — Awareness

Mid-2010s

"A Software Engineer was hired to write code for a feature."

2026

"A Software Engineer is hired to own, build, ship, and iterate on a product for a customer."

🤖

AI / ML Engineer

From Modeler to Full-Stack AI Builder

Radical Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The Lab-Coat Modeler

The ML Engineer was a highly specialized, academic role focused on statistical and mathematical model building. Often requiring a Master's or Ph.D., it was a niche specialty disconnected from end-user applications and infrastructure.

Classification, regression, and clustering model development

Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras

Python or R for statistical analysis

Feature engineering and hyperparameter tuning

Model validation and accuracy metrics

Handed off a pickle file — deployment was someone else's job

✦ 2026 Standard

The Generative AI Product Engineer

An IBM posting makes the new reality clear: this is a product-focused engineering discipline. The value is no longer in the model alone but in the end-to-end application that uses it — including LLMs, RAG, and full MLOps.

LLM integration — OpenAI, Anthropic, Llama APIs

Prompt engineering and RAG architecture

Vector databases — Pinecone, Chroma

MLOps — Docker, cloud deployment, CI/CD for ML

Model monitoring — drift, performance, cost tracking

Full-stack software engineering skills now prerequisite

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
Machine Learning Scientist	◑ Partial (Modeling)
Software Engineer (Backend)	✓ Yes — Full
DevOps Engineer	✓ Yes — Full
Data Engineer	◑ Partial (Pipelines)
Product Manager (AI)	◑ Partial (Prototyping)

2018

"An ML Engineer was hired to build a predictive model."

2026

"An AI Engineer is hired to build, deploy, and maintain a full-stack application powered by generative AI."

🖥️

IT Support Specialist

From PC Medic to Cloud Concierge

Major Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The On-Premise Hardware Medic

The "IT guy" was overwhelmingly focused on tangible, on-premise hardware and software. The primary function was to fix broken things and grant access to local resources. The cloud was a distant concept.

Desktop support — Windows XP/7, Microsoft Office

Hardware repair — PCs, printers, peripherals

Basic LAN network troubleshooting

On-premise Active Directory — password resets

Ticket management in Remedy or Spiceworks

CompTIA A+ and Network+ as gold standard certs

✦ 2026 Standard

The Cloud Identity Manager

A Concurrent and TeamLogic IT posting reveal a role pivoted to managing cloud services and user identity. The physical office is now just one small part of the IT landscape — the core competency has shifted to cloud-based administration.

Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) or Okta — cloud IAM

SaaS provisioning — M365, Box, DocuSign, and more

SSO and MFA troubleshooting

MDM — Intune or Jamf for remote device management

Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace administration

PowerShell scripting for Azure AD automation (major advantage)

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
Help Desk Technician	✓ Yes — Full
Desktop Support	✓ Yes — Full
Systems Administrator (Junior)	✓ Yes — Full
Identity Management Admin	◑ Partial
Cloud Administrator (Junior)	◑ Partial

Mid-2010s

"An IT Support Specialist fixed your computer."

2026

"An IT Support Specialist manages your digital identity and ensures you have secure access to the cloud services you need to do your job, wherever you are."

🗺️

Product Manager

From Coordinator to Data-Driven Strategist

Significant Shift ▾

⏪ Pre-2020 (~2010–2018)

The Requirements Coordinator

The entry-level PM was primarily a coordinator — gathering requirements from stakeholders, writing specs, and managing timelines. Technical depth was optional; the role was about communication and organization above all else.

Requirements gathering and documentation

Waterfall or early-Agile project management

Stakeholder communication and meeting facilitation

Basic wireframing (Visio, Balsamiq)

Roadmap maintenance in spreadsheets or MS Project

Minimal technical depth required — "translator" role

✦ 2026 Standard

The Technical Product Strategist

Today's PM must be deeply technical and data-driven. They are expected to write SQL, interpret A/B test results, define AI product strategy, and work directly in engineering sprints — not just coordinate them.

SQL proficiency for self-serve data analysis

A/B testing design and statistical significance interpretation

AI product strategy — defining LLM feature requirements

Figma for high-fidelity prototyping

Metrics ownership — defining and tracking OKRs and KPIs

Technical credibility to work directly with engineering teams

Org Reality — Roles Now Absorbed Into This Position

Old Org Unit	Now Expected?
Business Analyst	✓ Yes — Full
Data Analyst (Basic)	◑ Partial
UX Researcher	◑ Partial
Scrum Master / Agile Coach	✓ Yes — Awareness
Growth Analyst	◑ Partial

Mid-2010s

"A Product Manager coordinated between business and engineering."

2026

"A Product Manager owns the metrics, shapes the AI strategy, writes SQL to validate decisions, and ships features alongside engineers."

The Rise of the Hybrid Technologist

The evolution across these six roles points to a single, powerful trend: the collapse of silos and the rise of the hybrid technologist. The clear lines that once separated development from operations, data analysis from data engineering, and security from infrastructure have blurred into a spectrum of overlapping responsibilities.

In 2026, an entry-level technologist is no longer a narrow specialist but a versatile problem-solver who understands the full lifecycle of their domain. They are expected to be more autonomous, more product-aware, and more deeply integrated into the cloud and AI-native world. The bar has been raised, but so has the potential for impact from day one.

Sources: Tetra Tech, Havertys Furniture, FIS, Giga, Stripe, IBM, HealthStream, Concurrent, TeamLogic IT job postings (2026) · Academic references: Dong & Triche (2020), ISCAP (2019), Lightcast (2025), Pragmatic Engineer (2020)