Second Quarter Internet And Digital Media Jobs Index Shows Strong Job Growth In New York But A Slowdown In Boston
New York Adds 5.6% While Boston Adds 3.2% to Employment,
According to Quarterly Report from Cook Associates Executive Search
NEW YORK/BOSTON – July 23, 2012 – Cook Associates Executive Search (www.cookassociates/executive-search), a leading retained executive search firm, today released its quarterly East Coast Internet and Digital Media Jobs Index, which tracks job creation at more than 400 companies in New York and Boston. The Jobs Index for New York showed 5.6 percent growth, following on the heels of 6.2 percent growth in the past quarter. Boston, on the other hand, showed lower growth of 3.2 percent after an 8.0 percent increase in jobs in the first quarter.
According to Managing Director and Index creator John Barrett, “The real story in New York’s jobs growth is the impact being felt from West Coast companies. Specifically, 40 percent of the increase came from West Coast companies that have invested in New York, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, Yelp, Pandora, Zynga, Spotify and LinkedIn. Overall, New York added about 1,300 new jobs during the quarter in the Internet and digital media sector. Boston’s addition of about 400 new jobs was more tepid, which is to be expected given that venture capital funding is about one-half that seen in New York, and West Coast companies aren’t investing as much in Boston.”
The venture capital dollars are largely going toward a few major trends in technology. Specifically, New York’s growth is currently being driven by: innovative e-commerce models, digital advertising technology driven by “big data” and automation, and social networking platforms that find creative ways to connect people. New York’s start-ups tend to be far more consumer-oriented. Boston’s start-ups, however, tend to be more B2B-focused. Like NYC, Boston has many start-ups focused on digital advertising technology leveraging “big data” and work flow automation. Boston is also showing it’s a leader in local as well as mobile advertising/e-commerce. In addition, Boston has a number of successful start-ups focusing on marketing automation software targeting small businesses.
For the remainder of 2012, Barrett expects hiring trends to mirror what was seen in the second quarter. “The jobs engine in New York will continue to fire on all cylinders while Boston will certainly grow but likely at only half the rate of NYC,” he noted.
Second Quarter 2012 results from Cook Associates’ Internet and Digital Media Jobs Index:
New York data:
298 Internet and digital media companies with 10+ employees in New York City
● Approximately 1300 jobs added for a 5.6% gain
Percentage of companies that showed the following headcount changes:
● Increase in headcount: 65%
● Decrease in headcount: 26%
● No change: 9%
Top 10 companies showing largest headcount gains in New York include:
1. Google
2. Amazon
3. eBay
4. ZocDoc
5. AppNexus
6. Quidsi
7. Facebook
8. Fab.com
9. LinkedIn
10. Buzzfeed
Up-and-coming companies showing large headcount gains:
● [x+1]
● Birchbox
● Complex Media
● FiftyOne
● Mashable
● Meetup
● Quirky
● Sailthru
● ScrollMotion
● Seamless
● SkillShare
● Tasting Table
● Tumblr
● Rent the Runway
● Warby Parker
Boston data:
137 Internet and digital media companies with 10+ employees in Boston
● Approximately 400 jobs added for a 3.2% gain
Percentage of companies that showed the following headcount changes:
● Increase in headcount: 59%
● Decrease in headcount: 31%
● No change: 10%
Top 10 companies showing largest headcount gains in Boston include:
1. Vistaprint
2. Turbine
3. TripAdvisor
4. Google
5. Wayfair
6. Constant Contact
7. TechTarget
8. HubSpot
9. Care.com
10. Fiksu
Up-and-coming companies showing large headcount gains:
● Bluefin Labs
● Cartera Commerce
● CustomMade
● DataXu
● Hopper
● Jana
● Nanigans
● NetProspex
● nSphere
● Percipio Media
● Rue La La
● Scvngr
● SimpleTuition
● TipTap
● Visible Measures
● WordStream
Cook surveyed only pure-play Internet and digital media companies. Based on its research, the company believes that the businesses surveyed represent more than 90 percent of the Internet and digital media employees in New York and Boston. Virtually all companies in the survey are currently or were previously financed by venture capital investors. Major digital sub-sectors covered include media/content, social networking, advertising, mobile media/commerce, e-commerce, video, local, analytics and marketing software. Excluded from the survey were digital-focused employees of “traditional” companies and digital ad agencies. Cook Associates continually adds or subtracts companies for inclusion in the Index based on the criteria of employing 10 or more employees. Cook’s East Coast Internet and Digital Media Jobs Index is current as of July 1, 2012.
John Barrett:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrett3
Twitter (@jbarrett): https://twitter.com/#!/jbarrett