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The Impact of Tech on New York City's Future
May 30, 2014
On Tuesday, Citi hosted a panel discussion with Google, the Association for a Better New York, NY Tech Meetup and HR&A Advisors on the state of New York City's Tech Ecosystem and how the public and private sectors can help foster its continued growth and inclusivity. The panel took place following the release of a new report - commissioned by these same organizations - which contains extraordinary findings about the impact of tech on New York City's economy, and has implications on how cities around the globe can improve their competitiveness in a world that is increasingly driven by innovation and technology.
The study, "The New York City Tech Ecosystem," is the first to include tech jobs in non-tech industries, and it demonstrates that tech should not be considered a separate economic sector. Instead, tech jobs are infused throughout the city's diverse economy, from financial services and media to retail, real estate and fashion. The study also finds that 44% of all tech ecosystem jobs do not require a Bachelor's degree, which has significant implications on education and workforce development policies.
And when New York City's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development outlined the Administration's approach to workforce development, she directly cited the report.
The panel featured a wide array of leaders from the private, nonprofit and academic sectors: Rashid Ferrod Davis, Founding Principal, P-Tech; Jukay Hsu, Founder, Coalition for Queens; Diane Levitt, Director of K-12 Programs, Cornell Tech; Craig Nevill-Manning, Engineering Director, Google; and Ed Skyler, Executive Vice President, Citi Global Public Affairs.
The report's findings, which were reinforced by the panel, make clear that the tech ecosystem is big, has a significant impact on New York City's economy, and that it's only growing in importance:
- The tech ecosystem generates $125 billion in annual spending, $50 billion in annual compensation, and $5.6 billion in tax revenues. These tax revenues made up over 12% of the city's taxes in 2013.
- Of the 291,000 jobs in the city's tech ecosystem, 150,000, or more than half of them, are tech jobs at non-tech companies. This means that there are more tech jobs at financial services firms, in real estate, in fashion, and other sectors we've traditionally thought of as "non-tech" than there are at tech companies.
- 250,000 additional jobs are created through a multiplier effect, which means 541,000 people, or nearly 13% of the city's workforce, work directly or indirectly in the tech ecosystem. This is almost as much as the 16% of the city's workforce that works in healthcare, and it's higher than the 8% of the people who work in retail.
The conclusions from the report hold true at a company like Citi, too. Of the nearly 17,000 Citi employees in New York City, an estimated 1,860 - approximately 11% - work in tech-related occupations. It's clear that Citi plays a key role in New York's diverse tech ecosystem.
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