While Big Tech may be getting something of a beating in Washington these days, the Consumer Technology Association said big and little consumer tech is a major economic driver that continues to deliver high-paying jobs.
CTA said the consumer tech sector is a jobs force multiplier and accounted for $1.3 trillion dollars in American wages in 2017.
That is according to a new report, U.S. Economic Contribution of the Consumer Technology Sector.
According to that economic impact study, every consumer tech job supports three non-tech jobs, or a total of 18.2 million (5.1 million tech jobs and supporting an additional 13.1 million jobs), contributing $503 billion in taxes, contributing $2.3 billion to the U.S. economy or almost 12% of GDP.
"Even accounting for the booming growth the U.S. economy enjoyed before 2016 - when we released our previous economic study - our industry is still delivering 19% jobs impact growth and 22% growth in overall economic impact since then," said CTA president Gary Shapiro in a statement. "That's proof the U.S. tech sector is an essential driver of our nation's economy. And the effects go beyond just the products our industry sells - we drive productivity for virtually every sector of the economy."
Other key findings:
"For workers directly employed in the consumer tech sector, compensation was some $111,000 per worker on average, 82% higher than that of the overall economy.
"Tech exports of goods and services supported $302 billion in direct and indirect economic activity, with 1.2 million U.S. jobs reliant on consumer tech exports."
Shapiro sees that consumer tech contribution only increasing.
"In the next five years, 5G adoption, artificial intelligence and quantum computing will provide an era of new technology - one that will raise demand for tech-related goods and services and offer new economic opportunities for Americans," he says.
The report was prepared for CTA by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
