Booming industry • THE ECONOMY COLOGNE
Employment in the media and IT industry has developed positively over the past ten years. The Office for Urban Development and Statistics of the City of Cologne has current figures in the “Sector profile media and IT” issued. Accordingly, the positive employment trend also developed during the corona pandemic.
Between 2011 and 2019, the Office for Urban Development and Statistics of the City of Cologne supervised one Employment growth of 15,000 jobs or 41 percent in the IT and media industry in the cathedral city. This trend also continued during the corona pandemic. Between September 2019 and September 2021, growth in the two digital sectors was still 4.4 percent. The city of Cologne cites the ever-increasing role of digitization as a reason, which is a key driving force behind the growth in employment. In the digital ranking of major German cities, dem “Smart City Index”, Cologne took fourth place this year. “The positive figures show that Cologne is and will remain an attractive location for future industries. The city of Cologne is working with great commitment to offer the media and IT industry an environment in which it can present itself and grow. The city has just created a central contact in the administration for the promotion and further development of the city of Cologne as a production location with the ‘Events, Film and Television’ department. The attractiveness of a city in these areas pays off for the people of Cologne, as the increased numbers in recent years impressively show,” says Mayor Henriette Reker. Andree Haack, Cologne City Councilor for Urban Development, Economy, Digitization and Regional Affairs: “The positive employment development in the media and IT industry shows that Cologne, as the most digital city in Germany, continues to offer this company optimal conditions, despite Corona or political conflicts . A basis for this is certainly our Internet infrastructure with almost nationwide broadband coverage. Basically, the industry is benefiting from increasing digitization and changing media consumption.”
Some rapid growth
The Office for Urban Development and Statistics of the City of Cologne reports that the most employment-intensive sub-sector within the overall sector is dying with a share of 50 percent Provision of information technology services is, e.g. the operation of IT systems, software development and programming as well as IT consulting for companies. 26,400 people work in this area in the cathedral city. Half of them have an academic degree. With the increasing digitization there was also the greatest growth in this area. Between 2011 and 2019, the sub-sector grew by 70.9 percent. 9,600 new jobs were created during this period. The pandemic has not stopped this development, quite the opposite. Due to the digitization push caused by the pandemic, employment rose again between 2019 and 2021 by 3,200 jobs or 13.7 percentage points.
The second largest sub-sector within the media and IT market is the Film, TV and radio producers, which employ a total of 8,000 people, two thirds of whom are non-academics. These industries saw the second-largest job growth between 2011 and 2019, up 2,600, or 49.1 percent. However, the corona pandemic has somewhat slowed down the great growth in this sub-sector. Between September 2019 and September 2021, employment was only increased by 198, which corresponds to an increase of 2.5 percent. Just behind the film/TV and radio producers are the broadcaster (TV/radio stations) is the third-largest sub-sector in the media and IT sector profile of the city of Cologne. Most recently, 7,400 employees (more than half without an academic degree) were counted. Overall, the sub-sector developed rather negatively. Between 2011 and 2019, the starting number fell by 600 positions or 7.6 percent. Since the observation period around the corona pandemic from September 2019 to 2021, employment figures have increased slightly by 76 new jobs or 1.0 percent. Have a significantly higher personnel requirement digital information service providerwho take care of data processing, hosting or web portals, for example. 1,300 new jobs were added between 2011 and 2019, which corresponds to an increase of over 80 percent. There was also a significant increase in employment publishing, where 26 percent more jobs were created between 2011 and 2019 (+ 900 jobs). However, the corona pandemic has completely slowed down employment growth in both sub-sectors. Between 2019 and 2021, the numbers stagnated and remained practically stable. Overall, the media and IT industry in Cologne continues to experience the ongoing social and political challenges, mainly due to increasing digitization and changed, more flexible media consumption habits.
In the entire media and IT industry in Cologne 52,200 employees subject to social security contributions employed. Around every eleventh employee in Cologne is employed in this sector. The sector’s share of the cathedral city’s entire labor market is around nine percent (value from the third quarter of 2021). The area of information and communication, which, according to the definition of the Federal Employment Agency, includes the media and IT industry, is the fourth-largest industry complex in the cathedral city. Only company-related service providers (18 percent), health and social services (13 percent) and retail (12 percent) have more employees who pursue a professional activity.
(Christian Esser)