Record Job Creation in Capital Region’s Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector

The Capital Region’s professional, scientific and technical services sector created a record number of jobs in 2023, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics series.

In the eight-county Capital Region in 2023, the professional, scientific and technical services created 5,596 jobs, pushing the sector’s total employment to 35,588 – the most on record. That was the largest annual job creation gain in more than 45 years, with BDS data going back to 1978. At the same time, the sector’s job destruction totaled 3,661 in 2023. That resulted in a net job creation of 1,935 – the second most on record.

Nearly three-quarters of those job creation gains (3,974) were attributable to existing establishments. In 2023, 291 new establishments accounted for the remaining job creation gains (1,622). This increase in “establishment entrances,” which are establishments that have employees in the current year but had none in the preceding year, was the region’s third greatest in 45 years.

More than half of the professional, scientific and technical services sector’s jobs are in the scientific research(e.g., IBM Research), engineering services (e.g., CHA Consulting), and computer systems design and related services industries (e.g., Jahnel Group), according to data from the New York State Department of Labor’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). NY CREATES’ EUV Lithography Center at the Albany NanoTech Complex is expected to further drive job creation in the region’s professional, scientific and technical services sector, especially after a new High NA EUV tools becomes available there in 2026.

CEG Initiatives

CEG and its Manufacturing Solutions team leverages the Capital Region’s R&D assets to do the following:

• Promote the region around the world at industry conferences;
• Improve businesses’ access to labs at facilities, such as those at NY CREATES’ Albany Nanotech Complex, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in addition to others affiliated with Innovate 518, a University at Albany-led collaborative effort of Capital Region incubators, accelerators, and entrepreneurial service providers.
• Accelerate commercialization by leveraging tech scouting, gathering technology-driven market intelligence, engaging Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) for testing and development;
• Develop prototypes with its Stratasys F270 3D printer at the Tech Valley Center of Gravity or provide hand-on access to it; and
• Assist in the preparation of grant applications for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program.

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