Washington state is home to loads of talent across lots of different industries! A recent study from the Department of Commerce shows how important the creative fields in particular really are. Let’s see what they found!
Here are Five Fast Facts on creative jobs contributing to the state’s economy:
- 5️⃣ It’s A Fifth - The creative sector generates almost $120 billion of the state’s economy, which is just under 20% of the total state Gross Domestic Product. It’s probably just a coincidence that it’s a fifth, no relation to alcohol at all. Nope, none at all.
- 👪 The People - There were about 383,000 workers in the creative sector in 2021. This includes arts and culture as well as innovation in technology and energy. They’re mostly in urban centers but at least some creative jobs can be found pretty much everywhere.
- 💻 What We Do Best - Washington state is known for high tech industries, and we’ve got lots of creatives there, too! Creative tech – including the communications and information fields – is 59% of the total jobs in the state. During the study, this sector grew by an astounding 130%!
- 📝 Moving Forward - The study laid out four key priorities to focus on in the future: equity and access, infrastructure investment, learning and skills, and workforce development. We’re already good at these things, but we need to really lean in and continue to build expertise and lead the way. Dance with the one who brung ya’…
- 🤔 How We Do It - The study also identified a series of policy priorities to support both the creative economy in the state and the key priorities. These include things like better access to broadband Internet, using taxes and incentives to enable even more creative development, setting up apprenticeships, and more. Naturally, this government study ends with more government involvement. 🙄
🔥Bottom line: High tech gets all the kudos – kinda like the quarterback – but it’s good to know that the creatives in our state are making huge contributions to the state…particularly if you’re one of them! Keep that creativity and innovation coming!
Do you have one of those creative jobs?
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