Matthew T Grant

I heard Richard Florida on the radio this morning. You may remember him as the author of The Rise of the Creative Class, which traced “the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.”

Anyway, he was talking about America’s post-crash geography and mentioned that, while recessions have been traditionally bad for the working class, the creative class is still doing alright. When I checked the stats to which he was referring, I found that “alright” really means “less bad.”

Turns out, as in the past, this recession is extra hard on the working class. Jobs in production are down 12.9% since last year, and jobs in “construction & extraction” are down 14.2%. By comparison, jobs in arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media, as well as jobs in architecture and engineering, are down a mere 5.4%. So, “down,” but not “as down.”

Where is growth happening? In the sectors Florida calls “eds and meds,” that is, higher education and healthcare. For example, jobs in “healthcare support” have increased by 10.4% year over year.

My question is: Does this mean that marketing, communication, and design work related to healthcare is also or will be on the rise? What are you finding?

Image Courtesy of Buster McLeod.