TechNet, the bipartisan policy and political network of technology CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today released a new study showing that there are now roughly 466,000 jobs in the "App Economy" in the United States, up from zero in 2007.
The study, sponsored by TechNet and conducted by Dr. Michael Mandel of South Mountain Economics, also found that App Economy jobs are spread throughout the nation.
The top metro area for App Economy jobs is New York City and its surrounding suburban counties, although together San Francisco and San Jose together substantially exceed New York. And while California tops the list of App Economy states with nearly one in four jobs, states such as Georgia, Florida, and Illinois get their share as well. In fact, more than two-thirds of App Economy employment is outside of California and New York. The results also suggest that the App Economy is growing quickly and that the location and number of app-related jobs are likely to shift greatly in the years ahead.
"America's App Economy -- which had zero jobs just 5 years ago before the iPhone was introduced -- demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation," said Rey Ramsey, President and CEO of TechNet. "Today, the App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers today and even more in the years to come."
"The App Economy, along with the broad communications sector, has been a leading source of hiring strength in an otherwise sluggish labor market," said Dr. Michael Mandel, the report's author and President of South Mountain Economics and former Chief Economist for BusinessWeek.
Top U.S. Metro Areas With Highest Percentage of App Economy Jobs
- New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island 9.2%
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont . 8.5%
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara 6.3%
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 5.7%
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana 5.1%
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria . 4.8%
- Chicago-Naperville-Joliet 3.5%
- Boston-Cambridge-Quincy 3.5%
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta 3.3%
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 2.6%
Top Ten States for App Economy Jobs (Percentage)
- California 23.8%
- New York 6.9%
- Washington 6.4%
- Texas 5.4%
- New Jersey 4.2%
- Illinois 4.0%
- Massachusetts 3.9%
- Georgia 3.7%
- Virginia 3.5%
- Florida . 3.1%
The research shows that when it comes to employment impacts, each app represents jobs -- for programmers, for user interface designers, for marketers, for managers, for support staff. Conventional employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are not able to track such a new phenomenon because this economic ecosystem is so new. The research analyzed detailed information from The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) database, a comprehensive and up-to-the-minute compilation of want ads, to estimate the number of jobs in the App Economy.
The total number of Apps Economy jobs includes jobs at 'pure' app firms such as Zynga as well as app-related jobs at large companies such as Electronic Arts, Amazon, and AT&T, as well as app 'infrastructure' jobs at core firms such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. In addition, the App Economy total includes employment spillovers to the rest of the economy.
