Download Human Capital: Greater Washington's Knowledge Workers (Complete Study) (PDF)
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The region including Washington, DC, Suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia has more than 1.1 million knowledge workers -- people whose daily job tasks require them to use, analyze, and develop ideas and information.
What do these people do? What is their impact on the economy? And how does the knowledge workforce in this region compare to other major metropolitan areas?
Answering these questions and more, this study reveals that Greater Washington is a leading talent capital, boasting the nation's highest concentration of knowledge workers among all metro areas with more than one million residents.
This concentration of knowledge workers drives the region's economy and gives the region a significant advantage in sectors that are expected to grow in coming years.
Human Capital: Greater Washington's Knowledge Workers examines the workforce demographics of five industry sectors. More information about each section is available below:
Education & Research
The Greater Washington region registers the most robust research and science sector of any leading metro area, with three times the number of researchers as the New York region and an average annual growth of more than 22 percent. By contrast, the region has a significant need for qualified teachers, especially at the elementary school level. In fact, the overall number has declined since 1999, leaving an estimated need of 44,000 educators over the coming five years.
Healthcare
The Greater Washington region faces the same nationwide shortage of nurses and other healthcare providers to meet an ever-increasing need in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The problem seems to be growing more acute in Greater Washington, with a pool of nurses that is 30 percent smaller than the national average. On the other hand, Greater Washington’s social services workforce has experienced an average annual growth of more than five percent since 1999 – above the national average of 3.82 percent. Per capita, Greater Washington trails New York, San Francisco-San Jose, and Los Angeles with an estimated 198 healthcare establishments per 100,000 residents. Per capita, Greater Washington trails the metro areas of New York, San Francisco-San Jose, and Los Angeles with an estimated 198 healthcare establishments per 100,000 residents.
Information Technology
Greater Washington’s information technology workforce is larger than that of the San Francisco-San Jose metro area and three times larger than the national average. Greater Washington has more than 7,500 IT firms, or roughly 148 firms for every 100,000 residents. This concentration is twice that of the New York and Chicago metro areas and three times that of Los Angeles. What’s more, an increasing number of these firms focus on innovation and programming, employing nearly 100,000 computer programmers and designers. In fact, the region employs six times the national average of computer scientists, and four times the national average in computer software engineers specializing in systems design.
Media, Arts & Design
The Greater Washington area boasts one of the country’s most highly concentrated populations of artists. From filmmakers to writers, editors, and graphic designers, these creative knowledge workers work for top-tier agencies with a diversity of government and commercial clients as well as broadcasters and other privately owned companies. As with other sectors, a large percentage of Greater Washington artists work as independent consultants; of the nearly 15,000 film, museum, and theater workers, for example, more than 8,000 are self-employed. This community of artists has formed vibrant regional organizations, from Washington Independent Writers to Women in Film.
Professional Services
Greater Washington attracts a wide range of professional services workers, many of whom are self-employed. These professionals are one of the key driving forces behind a highly successful consulting sector, which relies heavily on self-employed professionals for government and private-sector contracts. When they are not self-employed, an unusually high number of Greater Washington residents take on freelance work. Still, there are shortages in some of this sector’s workforce categories -- including financial services, where there is an increasing need for qualified accountants, chief financial officers, and directors of finance. In contrast, the region’s advertising sector is growing in terms of workforce numbers and prestige, with many regional firms rivaling their competitors in New York.