Philly Jobs Data Serves as Reminder: All Jobs are Tech Jobs

As a provider of data center and cloud environments we keep a keen eye on where the economy is going.  Economic growth, employment, and other key data in the Philadelphia area is of significant interest to Direct LTx and the decisions we make.  

The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia Is a financially-oriented think tank that produces periodic reports on economic trends in our region, with a frequent focus on labor and employment.   The League’s review of Philadelphia jobs by sector earlier in 2024 shows some interesting trend lines.

Take a look at Figure 2.  With the exception of government employment, which did not waver when the pandemic hit, all sectors suffered massive job reductions during COVID but have rebounded.  The leisure and hospitality category dropped the most, and was slowest to bounce back, but by the end of last year 77,200 Philadelphians were employed in leisure and hospitality, within 2% of peak employment in the sector, which was 78,900 workers in September of 2019, around 6 months before the pandemic hit.

When looking at the various sectors our first thought was to try to categorize them as tech jobs or non-technical roles. But as we evaluated those categories we asked a question.  How often do you see someone using pen and paper on the job?   In a retail store if you ask someone for help sourcing a product they’re very likely to whip out a handheld device and look it up in an inventory app online.  On a construction site there’s a good chance that you’ll see a number of people holding tablets and nobody with a notebook, clipboard, or blueprints.  More than ever a waiter takes your order by punching it in instead of writing it down.   

Digital transformation has led to nearly everyone’s job being a tech job in some form or fashion.   And those digital activities all take place in data centers, which has us excited about the future of our sector as well as that of our region.