Apple today announced that the iOS app economy has created nearly 300,000 new jobs in the United States since April 2019, despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple says the App Store ecosystem now supports more than 2.1 million US jobs across all 50 states — an increase of 15% since last year — as part of the 2.7 million jobs Apple supports across the country.
Apps have become even more critical to Americans’ everyday lives as they seek out new and safe ways to learn, work, and stay engaged with friends and family during the pandemic. The App Store provides support for remote ordering from restaurants, vibrant and impactful remote learning for students, telehealth for patients and doctors, and digital commerce for small businesses. For the entrepreneurs who create these apps and the teams that design them, this produces lasting and sustainable economic opportunities, as evidenced by the double-digit growth in new app economy jobs across dozens of states since last year.
Kid-friendly video calling app Caribu co-founders Maxeme Tuchman and Alvaro Sabido saw their business take off this spring, as people sought new ways to keep in touch. To respond to the tenfold increase in customers across the globe, Caribu’s team tripled in size, from 4 employees to 12, contributing to the 17,000 new app economy jobs in Florida.
“We’ve had incredible growth in the last year, and we’ve massively expanded our team to meet demand,” said Tuchman. “It means so much to us to not only be able to help connect families and friends at this difficult time but to be able to provide stable, well-paying jobs to our growing number of employees as well. The App Store has given us a platform on which we can do both.”
Caribu is not alone, as states from coast to coast have added tens of thousands of app economy jobs in the past year.
- Maryland added 25,000 new app economy jobs since last year.
- Michigan added 12,000 new app economy jobs, growing 34 percent since last year.
- Many smaller states, including Alabama, Nevada, and Oklahoma, saw double-digit increases in app economy jobs during the same time period.
Apple also noted that it employs over 90,000 employees across all 50 states, and supports 450,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs.
