New York City is catching up in the IT race

While Silicon Valley is still the hub of IT (Information Technology) in the United States, New York City continues to climb the charts and is now bested only by Boston for the top spot. While Microsoft, Facebook, and eBay have officially announced they will open offices within the next year, big corporations have a huge interest in opening up locations in the Big Apple. Even the internet giant Google has purchased a 2.9 million square foot building in lower Manhattan.

While in a recession, New York City has managed to increase tech related jobs by 28.7% from 41,100 to 52,900 and added 486 digital startups formed since 2007. While New York has not seen such high percentages of unemployment since The Great Depression, it continues to be amazing that people are still managing to open up their own businesses.

Venture Capitalism has also increased by 32% while the rest of the United States and other industries have seen some sort of decline. It is believed that these numbers are reflected in the increased focus on the applied technologies. Traditional industries like advertising, media, fashion, and finance are experiencing the same upswing due to social media marketing.

The growth alone in internet use and mobile devices has required current companies to adapt to trending markets, hence creating jobs! Jobs in IT have increased eight times faster then in the private sector in New York City.

IT professionals perform a number of specialties including data based and software design, engineering, networking and server management. As of May 2012 New York City employment is increasing faster then the rest of the state while the areas surrounding New York City are increasing at a slower rate.

The larger question is, will this spur the economy in other areas giving employment to other people who do not possess the education to profit from this trend? Also, will the number of college graduates entering the IT field find jobs or has the IT field topped out with the current work force?

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“New York City” image courtesy of Shutterstock.