Yahoo Finance ‘App economy’: Here’s how many jobs have been created in your state
The advent of the smartphone has had the effect of generating millions of new jobs around the world in what’s called the ‘app economy’.
And Australia’s been no exception: in fact, the app economy’s growth is “particularly important” for our country, creating a recent spike in local jobs, according to US-based think tank the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).
The number of jobs in the app economy has grown by 20 per cent in the last two years, rising from 113,000 in March 2017 to a whopping 136,000 as of January this year, according to PPI data.
Related story: The gig economy is growing, but the cracks are starting to show
Related story: The 5 happiest – and least happy – professions
Related story: These are the 6 professions we trust the most
Who benefits from the ‘app economy’?
It’s not only app developers who are benefiting from this jobs boom.
A worker in the app economy can range from someone in an IT-related job with skills in mobile apps to someone who works in a non-IT job like sales, marketing, HR or admin.
And there are other businesses also benefit from the income flowing to workers related to app-building jobs: these are ‘spillover’ jobs that include local professional services like, bankers, law firms, building managers, telco and electric installers, restaurant jobs, and other services.
Who benefits most? A state-by-state roundup
Unsurprisingly, New South Wales has by far been the biggest winner of the app economy, with roughly half of app-related jobs based in the Premier State as of January 2019.
Victoria takes up the second largest slice of app economy jobs, with 38,000 app economy roles based there.
Meanwhile Queensland is home to around 15,000 app economy jobs while the remainder is scattered around remaining states Western Australia (7,000 jobs), ACT (6,000), South Australia (3,000) and Tasmania (just 1,000).
Make your money work with Yahoo Finance’s daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, property and tech news.
