Recently I wrote about how the job gains from Internet/tech growth were spreading from San Francisco and Silicon Valley to other parts of California (The Rebalancing of the California Economy, May 2013).
Now let’s look at another striking phenomenon: The strength of the New York metro area as a tech hub. I looked at employer demand for computer and mathematical occupations, as reflected in the number of want ads for software developers, web developers, data analysts and the like. What I found was quite surprising.
1. The New York metro region is #1 in the country in demand for computer and mathematical occupations.* The Washington DC metro area is second, though demand has sharply fallen since a year ago.
2. The New York metro region is #1 in the country in demand for web developers, by a wide margin. Washington is second, and the Los Angeles metro area is third.
3. The New York metro region is #1 in the country in demand for app economy workers, slightly ahead of San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
4. The. New York metro region is #2 in the country in demand for information security analysts, behind Washington DC.
5. The New York metro region is #4 in the country in demand for software developers, behind Seattle, San Francisco, and San Jose.
In some ways, New York’s strength reflects the sheer size of the region. Still, it’s remarkable that New York competes so well agains the tech powerhouses on the West Coast.
*Demand reflect the number of help-wanted ads in a metro region. These results are preliminary, pending additional validation. Computer and mathematical occupations, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, include occupations such as software developers, web developers, and statisticians, but not electronics engineers. All results based on number of help-wanted ads in June 2013, as reported by The Conference Board HWOL database. App economy jobs were defined in The Geography of the App Economy from South Mountain Economics LLC.
(Computer and mathemeatical occupations include software developers and web developers, but not electrical engineers. )
(based on June 2013 data from The Conference Board HWOL database).
