Tech:NYC Digest: July 24

Tech:NYC Digest: July 24

July 24, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, July 24, 2023

Happy Monday — it’s gonna be another hot one this week! In today’s digest, New York tech hiring makes an all-industry takeover, the new New York commute, and how to cast your vote for the first-ever Riders’ Choice Award. 

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  • The new easiest day to commute is... today. Mondays have seen the lightest average ridership for city subways and on Long Island Rail Road this year, followed by Fridays — a reflection of the new hybrid work schedule adopted by many employers. (New York Times) 

  • Mayor Eric Adams on Monday said the city is overhauling the way it governs the pesky sidewalk sheds and scaffolding that darken city sidewalks in an effort to shorten how long they can remain in place. (NY1)

    • City officials say nearly 400 miles of scaffolding are currently up around the city, remaining in place for an average 500 days and taking up 3% of city sidewalks.

  • NYC Restaurant Week starts today (and continues through Aug. 20). More than 500 businesses are participating, offering prix fixe meals that cost either $30, $45, or $60. (Eater NY)

In other reading:

  • Fifth Avenue is getting a facelift with fancy new garbage cans (TimeOut New York)

  • There's now a legal way to fly a drone in NYC (Gothamist)

  • It’s hot outside! 7 fun pools in NYC for lap swimming, day drinking and more (Gothamist)

Cast your vote

: We ❤️ subway performers, and voting for the first-ever Riders' Choice Award is open! After hundreds of applications, three finalists are vying for the title of NYC's favorite subway musician, plus a recording session with Atlantic Records.

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CBRE recently released its annual ranking of the top North American cities for tech talent, and one clear takeaway is that demand for tech talent is still strong — particularly in fields outside of those typically viewed as within the technology industry. 

  • “The tech companies have been able to compete for the best and the brightest,” CBRE's Colin Yasukochi told Tech Brew. “But with this little bit of a pullback, it’s created opportunities for non-tech companies to acquire some of that talent, and especially people coming out of college who don’t yet have a job.”

Here are some NYC-focused takeaways from the data: 

New York's tech workforce is less concentrated in “tech”, compared to its peers at the top of the ranking.  

  • About 37% of the 370,000 New York City tech workers work at tech companies as of 2022, according to CBRE, compared to 66% of San Francisco's 400,000 tech workers and 63.4% of Seattle's 194,000 tech workers employed by tech companies. 

  • About 20% of New York's tech workforce is in finance, insurance, or real estate, compared to 6% of San Francisco's tech workforce. 

  • That goes for emerging fields too: More industries are hiring for AI roles in New York, and cross-sector talent spread is holding. Tech:NYC president Julie Samuels told The New York Times last week, “Every major financial, media, advertising and consulting company is immersed in figuring out how they are going to adapt to and use generative A.I.,” said Julie Samuels, executive director of Tech:NYC, a nonprofit industry group. “And that’s happening every day here.”

The numbers echo research that Tech:NYC co-published in November to update sector-wide jobs and hiring numbers in the city:

  • The report found that nearly 1.5x more NYC tech workers are employed in non-tech industries (131,000) than in tech industries (89,000).

  • About 60% of the tech jobs in non-tech industries can be considered “high-tech,” highly technical roles focused on implementing tools, products, systems, and other tech-powered support services.

Something we’re watching: NYC is producing more new graduates with tech-related degrees (22,000 in 2021, up 29%) than any other North American city, CBRE found. As the report shows, those graduates can expect a wider pool of tech jobs across a wider range of industries that, frankly, you aren’t going to find in other US tech hubs.

Explore CBRE’s full Scoring Tech Talent report here. 

In other reading:

  • How Workers Really Spend Their Days (Wall Street Journal)

  • What Airbnb learned after a year of letting employees work from anywhere (Fast Company)

  • The cyber workforce is slowly but surely diversifying (Axios)

  • Bowery Valuation, a NYC-based technology-enabled commercial real estate appraisal firm, raised $16.3 million in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs Asset Management led the round and was joined by Curql Collective, as well as insiders Capital One Ventures, Stepstone Group, Builders VC, Fika Ventures, Navitas Capital, Camber Creek, and Nine Four Ventures.

  • Skillit, a NYC-based construction labor recruiting startup, raised $8.5 million in additional seed funding. MetaProp and Bow Capital co-led the round and were joined by Building Ventures.

  • Whop.com, a NYC-based marketplace for internet entrepreneurs, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Participating investors include Insight Partners, Zinal Growth, Peter Thiel, The Chainsmokers, and others.

  • July 26: In-person: Responsible Tech Mixer and Summer Celebration. Hosted by All Tech is Human and Betaworks. Register here.

  • July 27: In-person: No Stupid AI Questions, with Malamute CEO Matt Freed, former Ro head of ML Liz McQuillan, and New York AI founder Derek Larson. Hosted by Company Ventures and New York AI. Register here.

  • August 2: In-person: AI Tech for Good Pitch Contest, featuring finalists Azul Bio, InterviewMaster, Libbie Health, Pajama Cats Media, and Tilosia. Hosted by Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Use code TechNYC for a complimentary ticket while supplies last by registering here.

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