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Apple Says iOS App Economy Created Nearly 300K New U.S. Jobs Since April 2019

Apple today announced that the iOS app economy has created nearly 300,000 new jobs in the United States since April 2019, citing research shared by Dr. Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the non-profit Progressive Policy Institute.

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Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple said the App Store continues to provide economic opportunities, with apps supporting essential needs like remote learning, telehealth, and food ordering. According to Apple, the App Store ecosystem now supports more than 2.1 million U.S. jobs across all 50 states, an increase of 15 percent since last year.

Apple's press release provides some examples of companies of various sizes that have seen success on the App Store in the past year.

"We've had incredible growth in the last year, and we've massively expanded our team to meet demand," said Maxeme Tuchman, co-founder of kid-friendly video calling app Caribu. "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."

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Apple also noted that it employs over 90,000 employees across all 50 states, and supports 450,000 manufacturing and supply chain jobs. The company is on track to fulfill its commitment to contribute $350 billion in the U.S. over a five-year period.

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Top Rated Comments

75 months ago
I feel like this is a bit misleading. How many of these devs had other developer jobs before focusing on iOS? How many were front or back end devs? I doubt this 300k of devs were devs that never had jobs before.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wildkraut Avatar
75 months ago
According to Apple ... says it all, as if these 300k people were unemployed, flipping cents at the corner. lol
I want to see a decent non-apple statistics, not these mumbo jumbo numbers...

Never trust any statistics that you didn't forge yourself
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeeW Avatar
75 months ago
Whatever you think about the App Store, the charging and whatever else, it has created a lot of jobs and wealth for many developers. Apple is not the only winner.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacSince1985 Avatar
75 months ago
Notice that it just says "jobs", not "full-time employment" or "Apple hires". I have no doubt that the iOS market is creating jobs, but I'm also sure those numbers include just about everyone who has done some work loosely related to iOS apps.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Morgenland Avatar
75 months ago
Well done Apple.
And now let's wait and see how many people here have to badmouth this good news because they have a disturbed relationship to good things...

‚Fragment and destroy‘ was a battle cry of the Bolshevik USSR, and has been injected into the American zeitgeist from the ‚highest‘ level these days.

By the way: Are there surveys on the age, experience and educational level of MacRumors readers available?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
75 months ago

If consumers could both load apps via the App store, and had the option to side-load from trusted developers, the same - if not more - jobs would be created.
Sure. It would create a bunch of jobs for the developers of anti-virus / anti-malware software.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)