While there are numerous signs that the city is bouncing back strong, New York still has a long way to go in its employment recovery. Indeed, the city still has 123,000 fewer jobs than it did in February 2020, regaining just 82 percent of the jobs lost in the pandemic (compared to 100 percent for the nation). There are many things city policymakers can do to spark a more complete jobs recovery, but few are as likely to succeed as supporting the continued growth of the tech sector. 

In this op-ed, CUF’s Jonathan Bowles and Tech:NYC's Jason Myles Clark lay out the opportunity for Mayor Adams to invest in the city's tech sector to spark a more complete jobs recovery and get many more New Yorkers into well-paying jobs. The tech sector has accounted for a remarkable 17 percent of the city’s entire private sector job growth since 2010, growing seven times as fast as the city’s overall economy. To grow the city's tech sector and help New Yorkers bounce back from the immense loss of jobs during the pandemic, Bowles and Clark recommend prioritizing investments in parks, transit, safety, culture, and affordability; ramping up workforce development and education investments; and positioning New York to become the best place in the nation to work from home. 

Read the full op-ed here.

This op-ed builds on longstanding and innovative research from CUF over the past 25 years on boosting and diversifying the city’s tech workforce, including New York's New Jobs Engine, Plugging In: Building NYC’s Tech Education & Training Ecosystem, Preparing New Yorkers for the Tech Jobs Driving NYC’s Pandemic Economy, and CUNY's Key Role in Expanding Access to Tech Careers.