Study: Facebook App Development Has Created 235, 644 Jobs

Posted 09/19/2011 at 10:13am | by Brad Chacos

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Maybe we’re looking for leadership in the wrong places during these tough economic times. While politicians pound the pulpit and blather on about job creation, few of them are able to actually get anything done, regardless of party affiliation. On the other hand, a new report claims that one company is singlehandedly creating a crapload (approximately) of jobs and revenue. That company is Facebook. Is a Mark Zuckerberg 2012 campaign around the corner?

While you might look at Facebook apps as momentary diversions, they’re big business to a lot of folks out there. A new study published by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business today says that if you use “more aggressive estimates,” the social media giant’s “App Economy” is responsible for creating 235,644 jobs and contributing somewhere in the vicinity of $12.19 billion to $15.71 billion in wages and benefits to US workers in 2011. Some quick Google-powered math shows that to be just over $51,000 a head.

While the study claims that Facebook users download 20 million apps a day, the way the UofM researchers came up with the 235,644 number seems a little weird. According to the AFP, the study says that only 53,000 of those jobs are actual software developer hires. The rest of the hires come from “businesses that supply app developers” – which makes sense – and “jobs… created as a result of household spending based on the income earned by employees at both app developers and businesses supplying app developers,” which seems waaaaaay more difficult to track. But then again, we’re not economists, so what do we know?