Internet media employment has tripled over the past decade

What’s up in media jobs? Internet media. What’s down? Everything else. Internet media over the past decade surpassed TV, radio, magazines and newspapers to become the biggest employment sector in media. Employment at internet media firms has more than tripled to 277,000 jobs since the Great Recession ended in June 2009, according to Ad Age Datacenter’s analysis of job figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over that period, internet media’s share of U.S. media jobs has surged to 36 percent from 11 percent. TV and radio have roughly maintained their share of media jobs. Broadcast TV and cable TV together account for 25 percent of media jobs now, down slightly from 26 percent in 2009. Radio’s share of media jobs is 11 percent, compared to 12 percent in 2009. The big losses came in print media. Newspapers’ share of U.S. media jobs tumbled to 17 percent from 35 percent. Magazines now account for 11 percent of media jobs, down from 16 percent in 2009. The economic expansion began in summer 2009, but there was no recovery for newspapers. The U.S. newspaper industry since 2009 has slashed employment 52 percent, cutting nearly 144,000 jobs. Tally up the sectors, and U.S. media ventures have cut 20,000 jobs since June 2009. Internet media firms added 193,400 jobs. Employment for TV, radio, newspapers and magazines fell by 213,400 jobs. The media jobs pie is shrinking. But the internet’s slice is only getting bigger. U.S. internet media employment, 2019 vs. 2009 Employment at internet media firms, and internet media's share of U.S. media jobs, has more than tripled since 2009. Year Internet media Internet media share of media jobs 2019 277,000 36% 2009 83,600 11% Percent change +231% Source: Ad Age Datacenter analysis of data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS "internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals” classification. October 2019 vs. June 2009 (end of recession). See expanded data: AdAge.com/adjobs. U.S. internet media employment, 2009 to 2019 Source: Ad Age Datacenter analysis of data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. See expanded data: AdAge.com/adjobs. Share of U.S. media jobs by medium, 2009 (left) vs. 2019 (right) Source: Ad Age Datacenter analysis of data from Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS "internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals” classification. TV includes broadcast and cable. October 2019 vs. June 2009 (end of recession). See expanded data: AdAge.com/adjobs.

Internet media employment has tripled over the past decade

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