How Many Tech Jobs Are There in NYC? Depends Whom You Ask

WNYC News | Apr 2, 2014

New York is adding jobs in technology, and fast. Exactly how many, however, is a matter for debate.

Two reports out this week offer different numbers.

study by commissioned by Google, Citigroup, New York Tech Meetup, and the Association for a Better New York, concludes there are “291,000 jobs that are enabled by, produce, or facilitate technology.”

The Partnership for New York City has a much more conservative estimate, about 150,000 tech jobs.

Merrill Pond, senior vice president for research at the Partnership, said her calculation includes only jobs of a technical nature, like computer systems analyst and web developer, “more typical tech jobs.”

The Google/Citi study includes non-technical jobs at tech companies, like a cafeteria worker at Google or a marketer at an e-commerce site.

“It's definitely one of the hardest industries to pin down because there's no clear cut classification for technology jobs,” said Barbara Byrne Denham, a private economist who has been watching tech jobs in New York since the late 1990s dotcom boom. 

Denham said even if the numbers aren't always clear, the trend lines are. New York is adding a lot of tech jobs and faster than the nation as a whole.

That's a good thing as these jobs tend to pay better on average than other jobs.

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