By Bill Parry
The de Blasio administration is strengthening its ties to the technology sector that is driving job growth.
The city has created more jobs in the past five years than during any five-year period in the last half century and shaken its dependency on Wall Street, The New York Times reported this week. The city has added about 425,000 jobs since the end of 2009, raising total employment to 4.1 million jobs led by the tourism industry and the growing tech industry while Wall Street has contributed less than 1 percent of new jobs added to the city’s private sector.
The mayor announced last Friday 14 initial industry commitments to support the delivery of technology education, training and job opportunities to thousands of New Yorkers as part of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline initiative. It is a $10 million public-private partnership designed to support the growth of the city’s tech ecosystem. The mayor and executives from 25 companies came together to define employers’ needs, develop technology training and education solutions, and deliver quality jobs for New Yorkers and quality talent for New York’s businesses.
“We have a responsibility to ensure all New Yorkers have equal access to the technology education, training, and job opportunities that are essential in the 21st century economy,” de Blasio said. “We see real opportunities to deliver for our businesses and our people, and today have come together with leaders across all sectors to realize this vision.”
The administration has been working closely with industry partners for several months to develop many of these programs and other resource commitments, which include tech skills training programs, scholarships, critical research, and funding support. The city will link key resources to these and future NYC Tech Talent pipeline programming as additional programs and investments are unveiled.
The pipeline is fed by organizations like the Coalition for Queens, a Long Island City-based, volunteer-driven non-profit that seeks to increase economic opportunity and transform the community into a leading hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The group teaches technology classes, including coding for beginners called Access Code to help Queens residents gain the skills they need to enter the tech workforce.
“The demand for talent presents an unparalleled opportunity for more New Yorkers to become part of the tech workforce and improve income for themselves and their families,” Queens Coalition founder and Executive Director Jukay Hsu said. “There are talented adults in every borough and neighborhood, and the work of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline and the contribution of industry partners are critical to the future of our communities.”
These industry leaders include Google, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn and Buzzfeed. In support of the Pipeline’s mission, LinkedIn has begun publishing data highlighting the top technology jobs and in-demand skills in New York City, where the tech ecosystem directly employs nearly 300,000 people and indirectly generates another 250,000 jobs, altogether accounting for 12.6 percent of the city’s workforce.
The NYC Tech Talent Pipeline will help Coalition for Queens expand its programs in the coming year and help serve some of the 65 percent of New Yorkers without college degrees further increase the pipeline of tech talent.
“This new industry partnership will provide more opportunities for New Yorkers from every background, particularly our low-income and diverse communities, to gain the skills and access needed to participate in the digital economy,” Hsu said. “We’ve seen the impact of this work firsthand and look forward to many successes to come.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
