More people are employed in Philly than in 2019 — but many are still not going into offices
Much of the growth has been in roles that can be hybrid or remote, while office-reliant jobs like janitors and messengers are fewer.
The number of people employed in Philadelphia is back to pre-pandemic levels. But that hasn’t resulted in the same number of bodies walking around downtown.
A new report from Center City District, which represents downtown business interests, says the city now has 2.4% more jobs than it did in February 2020. Still, the number of nonresident workers in Center City last month was less than three-quarters of November 2019 levels.
Many of the additional jobs were in professional and business services, financial services, and information services — traditionally considered to be office jobs — but cell phone data from Placer.ai showed that less than two-thirds of office workers are routinely at their desks, the report said.
The biggest jump in employment was in the health-care and social-assistance sector, where the city added 19,400 jobs from October 2019 to October 2023.
And certain categories of employment have been on the decline, such as jobs in janitorial and building services, parking, and courier services. The report linked these changes to a rise in hybrid work.
“In our interconnected economy, high-skilled jobs only maximize the opportunities for mid-wage and lower-skilled workers when the former jobs are performed on-site,” the report said.
Statewide, employment returned to pre-COVID-19 levels in March, six months after the national employment level did so.
While surpassing that hurdle of pre-pandemic employment is a milestone for Philadelphia, there is still work to be done, the Center City District report’s said. It noted that employment in Philadelphia has grown more slowly than in most other large urban areas in the country.
“To create sufficient opportunity for all residents and to reduce our high poverty rate, Philadelphia needs growth more robust than just a return to the 2019 status quo,” the report said.
Center City District proposed two priorities for the next mayoral administration to achieve that growth: restructuring public safety programs and tax policies and “aligning educational and vocational programs around family-sustaining career opportunities.”
Unemployment in the city of Philadelphia has been historically low this year, dipping down to 4.3% in October (the most recent month available for local U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data). It’s been even lower when looking at most of the surrounding region.